{"id":120024,"date":"2024-12-28T19:12:43","date_gmt":"2024-12-28T16:12:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/120024\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","slug":"belarusian-strongman-issues-new-pardons-as-political-arrests-continue","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/120024\/","title":{"rendered":"Belarusian strongman pardons 20 as political arrests continue"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"block-image block-image-normal\">\n\n  <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1128\" height=\"752\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/setka-1128-pixabay.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/setka-1128-pixabay.jpg 1128w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/setka-1128-pixabay-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/setka-1128-pixabay-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/setka-1128-pixabay-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/setka-1128-pixabay-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1128px) 100vw, 1128px\" \/>\n  <figcaption>\n  \n       <div class=\"block-image__author\">\n        Illustration photo         <span>(pixabay.com)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n     <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>December 28, <em>Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka has signed an edict pardoning 20 more people convicted of extremism-related crimes, his press office announced today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The group includes 11 women, 14 people have chronic diseases and 10 parents (one woman has four children).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;All of them petitioned for pardon and repented of their deeds,&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The Ministry of Internal Affairs will monitor their behavior after the release,&#8221; it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is the eighth group granted clemency in the last six months. In early July, \u0141uka\u0161enka announced the release of his critically ill opponents, after which 18 political prisoners were released. Later he issued more pardons, bringing the number of the forgiven to 227.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the same time, authorities continue to arrest people for political reasons and courts often issue sentences in politically-motivated trials, according to rights activists. The repression has intensified in the run-up to January&#8217;s presidential election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Belarusian human rights groups have identified 1,253 political prisoners, but the actual number is significantly higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Officials deny the existence of political prisoners in Belarus, arguing that its Criminal Code does not contain any &#8220;political&#8221; articles. The government uses extremism, incitement, disorder and similar charges for politically-motivated reprisals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"insert-block\">\n\n    <div class=\"insert-block__img\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"354\" height=\"236\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/usa_flag_pixabay-354x236.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/usa_flag_pixabay-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/usa_flag_pixabay-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/usa_flag_pixabay-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/usa_flag_pixabay-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/usa_flag_pixabay.jpg 1128w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/>                        <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> \u041f\u043e\u043b\u0438\u0442\u0438\u043a\u0430<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">\u041f\u043e\u043b\u0438\u0442\u0438\u043a\u0430<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">US Embassy calls for release of all Belarusian political prisoners<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">December 19, Pozirk. The United States Embassy in Belarus has welcomed the release of more than 200 political prisoners since early July and urged Belarusian authorities to free all of them. &quot;The winter holidays are a wonderful opportunity to gather &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/119022\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read the article<\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>December 28, Pozirk. Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka has signed an edict pardoning 20 more people convicted of extremism-related crimes, his press office announced today. The group includes 11 women, 14 people have chronic diseases and 10 parents (one woman has four children). &#8220;All of them petitioned for pardon and repented of their deeds,&#8221; &#8220;The Ministry of Internal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":93879,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-120024","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Belarusian strongman pardons 20 as political arrests continue | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"December 28, Pozirk. Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka has signed an edict pardoning 20 more people convicted of extremism-related crimes, his press office announced\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/120024\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Belarusian strongman pardons 20 as political arrests continue | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"December 28, Pozirk. Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka has signed an edict pardoning 20 more people convicted of extremism-related crimes, his press office announced\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/120024\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-24T20:40:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/setka-1128-pixabay.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1128\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"752\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/120024\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/120024\/\"},\"headline\":\"Belarusian strongman pardons 20 as political arrests continue\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-28T16:12:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T20:40:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/120024\/\"},\"wordCount\":195,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/120024\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/setka-1128-pixabay.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/120024\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/120024\/\",\"name\":\"Belarusian strongman pardons 20 as political arrests continue | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/120024\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/120024\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/setka-1128-pixabay.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-28T16:12:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T20:40:57+00:00\",\"description\":\"December 28, Pozirk. 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