This content was formerly published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and it is now being reprinted with permission.
According to his press release on September 16, autocratic Belarusian head Alyaksandr Lukashenka pardoned 37 people, including six women, who were serving jail sentences for fanaticism costs.
The pardoned were allegedly “repented and promised to do law-abiding lives,” according to the speech, adding that the clemency was granted because September 17 was the Day of National Unity.
This is Lukashenka’s third mass-amnesty order this year to forgive those detained for participating in the 2020 large protests against the official results of a presidential poll that declared the long-ruling leader the champion.
In all, 115 out of more than 1, 300 political captives have been pardoned since July.
