{"id":209537,"date":"2026-10-29T12:50:41","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T09:50:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/209537\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T12:50:44","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T09:50:44","slug":"bialacki-lukasenka-trades-dissidents-for-sanctions-relief","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/209537\/","title":{"rendered":"Bialacki: \u0141uka\u0161enka trades dissidents for sanctions relief"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>October 29, <em>Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>Releases of hundreds of Belarusian dissidents do not mean an end to reprisals, Ale\u015b Bialacki, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and head of the Viasna Human Rights Center, told Poland\u2019s <em>PAP<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arrests and convictions continue, he added. \u201cWhat [Alaksandar] \u0141uka\u0161enka is doing is \u2018human trafficking\u2019 \u2013 he releases prisoners of conscience in exchange for the lifting of certain sanctions or other concessions from the United States, but after a round of negotiations, he imprisons others,\u201d <em>dzieje.pl<\/em> quoted him as saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u0141uka\u0161enka is not likely to step down voluntarily, Bialacki added, noting that the Belarusian ruler would not agree to roundtable negotiations with the opposition. Only changes in Russia, weakened by the war, could open up opportunities for democratic transformation in Belarus, Bialacki noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The future of a democratic Belarus depends on the outcome of Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine, he stressed. If Ukraine prevails in the war and potentially becomes a member of the European Union, it could serve as an example for Belarus, he said, adding that the Belarusian society \u201chas changed and is ready for democratic reforms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier this year, Bialacki urged the international community not to lift sanctions on Belarus until all political prisoners are freed and reprisals end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of October 29, human rights defenders identified at least 884 political prisoners, but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented.<\/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\/07\/setka-1128-pixabay-354x236.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"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, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/setka-1128-pixabay.jpg 1128w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/>                        <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Politics<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">Politics<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">Belarusian prisoners\u2019 appeal to EU exposes opposition divisions<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">October 28, Pozirk. Belarusian political prisoners\u2019 appeal to the European Union to step up efforts to secure the release of jailed critics has stirred debate and exposed divisions within the opposition. Belarusian pro-democracy leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja, in a video address &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/209287\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read<\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>October 29, Pozirk. Releases of hundreds of Belarusian dissidents do not mean an end to reprisals, Ale\u015b Bialacki, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and head of the Viasna Human Rights Center, told Poland\u2019s PAP. Arrests and convictions continue, he added. \u201cWhat [Alaksandar] \u0141uka\u0161enka is doing is \u2018human trafficking\u2019 \u2013 he releases prisoners of conscience in exchange [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":183230,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-209537","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>Bialacki: \u0141uka\u0161enka trades dissidents for sanctions relief | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"October 29, Pozirk. Releases of hundreds of Belarusian dissidents do not mean an end to reprisals, Ale\u015b Bialacki, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and head of\" \/>\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\/209537\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bialacki: \u0141uka\u0161enka trades dissidents for sanctions relief | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"October 29, Pozirk. Releases of hundreds of Belarusian dissidents do not mean an end to reprisals, Ale\u015b Bialacki, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and head of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/209537\/\" \/>\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=\"2026-10-29T09:50:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bialacki-misia-demsil-praga-2.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\/209537\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/209537\/\"},\"headline\":\"Bialacki: \u0141uka\u0161enka trades dissidents for sanctions relief\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-29T09:50:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-29T09:50:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/209537\/\"},\"wordCount\":237,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/209537\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bialacki-misia-demsil-praga-2.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/209537\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/209537\/\",\"name\":\"Bialacki: \u0141uka\u0161enka trades dissidents for sanctions relief | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/209537\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/209537\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bialacki-misia-demsil-praga-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-29T09:50:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-29T09:50:44+00:00\",\"description\":\"October 29, Pozirk. 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Releases of hundreds of Belarusian dissidents do not mean an end to reprisals, Ale\u015b Bialacki, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and head of","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/209537\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bialacki: \u0141uka\u0161enka trades dissidents for sanctions relief | Pozirk","og_description":"October 29, Pozirk. 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