{"id":168588,"date":"2025-12-17T14:37:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T11:37:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/168588\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"no-signs-of-change-in-policy-of-repression-un-expert","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/168588\/","title":{"rendered":"No signs of change in policy of repression \u2013 UN expert"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

December 17, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>\u201cWhile the prisoner releases are certainly a relief, there are no signs from Belarusian authorities of a change in the policy or practice of repression and no declarations to that effect,\u201d said Nils Mui\u017enieks, the UN special Belarus human rights rapporteur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The expert warned that detentions and prosecutions on politically motivated grounds continue along with the releases. \u201cThe overall number of people designated by human rights defenders as political prisoners still in detention remains over 1100, which means Belarus continues to rank among the countries with the highest number of political prisoners per capita,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mui\u017enieks said that while State media presented these releases as \u201cpardons\u201d, the politician Mikalai Statkevich who refused to leave the country, was reportedly apprehended and placed in detention again. Some other recently released prisoners saw new criminal cases opened against them in absentia. Some of those expelled were either nearing the end of their prison terms or had already served their terms, their imprisonment having been arbitrarily prolonged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese people were looking forward to returning to their homes and families. Instead, they were expelled from the country, left without means of subsistence and, in some cases, stripped of identity documents,\u201d Mui\u017enieks said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReturning to Belarus for them means facing new criminal charges and imprisonment. Those are not pardons, but forced exile,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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