House of Representatives approves clemency for more than 8,000 prisoners

November 10, BPN. The lower house of the Belarusian National Assembly has passed a clemency bill.

Under the clemency program, 4,545 inmates are to be released, including 1,600 from prisons, among them 10 minors, and 500, from open-type correctional facilities, the lower house’s press office said.

It also reduces the sentences by one year for 3,950 inmates, including 2,500 held in prisons and 350, in open-type correctional facilities.

The program does not apply to individuals convicted for committing terrorist or extremist crimes. Both charges are routinely used against the regime’s opponents.

In early September, Prosecutor General Andrej Švied said that the clemency program would not affect those convicted in connection with post-election protests, noting that they could be released early only by asking for a pardon.

The bill has to be approved by the upper house and signed into law by Alaksandr Łukašenka.