Łukašenka says amnesty not “political trading with the West”

September 23, BPN. Pardoning and amnesty in Belarus are not “political trading with the West,” said Alaksandr Łukašenka during his visit to the Chatyn memorial complex on September 23.

The statement comes two weeks after a government conference on a possible amnesty for 8,000 people, including participants in mass rallies.

“I do not trade in people. I have never done it and I do not intend to do so,” Łukašenka’s press office quoted him as saying. “But if there is a possibility for a compromise, we must do it . . . They [prisoners] will get out sooner or later anyway.”

On September 21, Belarusian authorities released prominent RFE/RL journalist Aleh Hruździłovič after almost nine months behind bars. The journalist was serving an 18-month prison sentence for participation in protests. Hruździłovič said he was pardoned despite insisting that he was not guilty.