{"id":208898,"date":"2026-10-25T17:04:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T14:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/208898\/"},"modified":"2026-10-25T17:04:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T14:04:17","slug":"cichanouskaja-releasing-dissidents-not-enough-without-ending-reprisals","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/208898\/","title":{"rendered":"Cichano\u016dskaja: releasing dissidents not enough without ending reprisals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (Cichano\u016dskaja's press office)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

October 25, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> Releases of Belarusian dissidents must be accompanied by an end to reprisals, Belarusian opposition leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja has said at the Igrzyska Wolno\u015bci festival of ideas in Poland\u2019s \u0141\u00f3d\u017a, her press office reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New arrests cannot become a means of extracting further concessions, the politician stressed, referring to the current situation in Belarus, where authorities continue to persecute their political opponents despite the diplomatic engagement with the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the summer of 2025, the US has been gradually lifting its sanctions against Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s regime as talks between Washington and Minsk have resulted in the release of hundreds of Belarusian political prisoners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, reprisals in Belarus have not receded despite the liberation of dissidents negotiated by the US, Belarusian rights groups said in a joint statement released earlier this month. Minsk has built and maintained a coordinated system to suppress dissent over the six years since the 2020 postelection protests, it stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of October 25, human rights defenders identified at least 885 political prisoners, but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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