Belarus opposition urges immediate release of over 200 political prisoners in dire state

Associated Press

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarusian opposition leader in exile Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on Thursday said 224 political prisoners in Belarus must be urgently released. More than 65,000 people have been detained since Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko in 2020 unleashed a brutal crackdown on dissent. It followed mass protests that broke out after an election that handed Lukashenko his sixth term in office and was denounced by the opposition and the West as rigged. The Viasna human rights group has designated over 1,300 currently behind bars as political prisoners. Tsikhanouskaya, who ran against Lukashenko that year and was forced to leave the country shortly after the vote, said Thursday that 224 of them should be immediately released.