Forty more people declared former political prisoners

July 8, Pozirk. Belarusian human rights organizations have recognized 40 more individuals as former political prisoners. 

In a statement adopted on July 8, the organizations say that their conviction was linked to the the exercise of their freedoms of peaceful assembly, association and expression.

The Viasna Human Rights Center, Legal Initiative, Belarusian PEN and Barys Zvozskaŭ Human Rights Housesigned the statement. 

More than 600 individuals have already been designated as former political prisoners since the documenting of such cases began in the fall of 2023. 

As of July 8, human rights defenders had identified at least 854 political prisoners, but the real number is considerably higher because many cases remain unknown.