March 31, Pozirk. A senior Belarusian opposition politician has condemned Minsk’s decision to annul the passports of dissidents released from prisons in a deal with Washington and taken out of Belarus.
“According to information we have, all those who checked their IDs see that that their documents had been invalidated,” said Volha Zazulinskaja, the opposition’s social security chief.
This is proof that the so-called pardons were not an act of humanism or a goodwill gesture, but “the continuation of repression in a different form outside the country,” she said.
Zazulinskaja said that she would raise the issue with Lithuanian and Polish authorities.
“We need to work out an urgent solution to issue alternative documents, so that people will not live in legal vacuum. People who went through repression must not face persecution in exile,” she said.
The Viasna Human Rights Center reported on March 30 that people who were forced out of the country in September and December 2025 had their passports annulled. Former prisoners learned about it after checking their status in the interior ministry’s database.
“I think absolutely all prisoners who left with IDs – 20-25 people – had their passports annulled,” one source is quoted as saying. His passport, valid until 2031, was annulled.
Prominent influencer Dźmitryj Kazłoŭ also had his passport, valid until 2032, annulled.
The ministry’s database says that the passport is invalid, but does not specify the grounds, said Śviatłana Hałaŭniova, of Viasna.
Authorities have already released about 500 prisoners as a result of negotiations with Washington. Many of them were expelled from the country, some without any IDs. US officials, including John Coale, special envoy for Belarus, and President Donald Trump expressed gratitude to the Belarusian ruler for freeing political prisoners. The US president a few days ago announced his intention to meet with Alaksandar Łukašenka.
Washington has not taken any action so far to prevent the mistreatment of dissidents after their release and forced deportation.
