Relatives of Belarus’ political prisoners complain that East-West swap didn’t free their loved ones

Associated Press

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A wave of disappointment swept over opposition activists in Belarus last week as the biggest East-West prisoner swap since the Cold War unfolded and they learned it included none of the Belarusian political detainees who’ve been locked up for years by its authoritarian leader. That dismay is especially poignant since Friday marks the fourth anniversary of the 2020 election — widely seen at home and abroad as fraudulent — that gave President Alexander Lukashenko his sixth term. That disputed balloting touched off the biggest protests and crackdown on dissent in Belarus in its post-Soviet history. The Viasna human rights group estimates Belarus has about 1,400 political prisoners