On 11 September, 52 political prisoners (including 14 foreign citizens), were freed and forcibly taken out of Belarus. The pardons followed a meeting between Lukashenka and an American delegation that included John Cole, a representative of Trump. Together with released people they came to Vilnius, Lithuania. Among those freed are some of our imprisoned writers, including: Uładzimir Mackievič, Mikoła Dziadok, Zmicier Daškievič, Łarysa Ščyrakova, Pavieł Mažejka, Pavieł Vinahradaŭ.
Uładzimir Mackievič – philosopher, methodologist, essayist, publicist, public figure and TV presenter. On June 23, 2022, the philosopher-methodologist Uladzimir Matskevich was found guilty in the Minsk Regional Court behind during a closed session and sentenced to five years of imprisonment in a high-security penal colony. Learn more about Uładzimir Mackievič.
Mikoła Dziadok – author of the book Colors of the Parallel World, blogger, author of the newspaper Novy Chas, activist of an anarchist movement. On November 10, 2021, the Minsk City Court sentenced Mikoła Dziadok. Judge Anastasia Papko found him guilty under three articles of the Criminal Code: art. 342, Art. 361, Art. 295-3. Mikoła Dziadok was sentenced to five years in prison. The political prisoner did not plead guilty to any of the charges. Learn more about Mikoła Dziadok.
Zmicier Daškievič – publicist, writer, author of the book of prison literature Čarviak (2014), for which in 2014 he became the laureate of the Francišak Alachnovič Award. On July 14, the Maskoŭski District Court in Minsk handed down the sentence: Zmicier Daškievič – 1 year and 6 months of colony. He was supposed to be released on July 11, 2023, but a new criminal case was opened against him for “malicious disobedience to the requirements of the administration of the correctional facility” (Article 411 of the Criminal Code). Learn more about Zmicier Daškievič.
Łarysa Ščyrakova – journalist, local historian, documentary filmmaker, popularizer of history and culture. On 31 August, the Homiel Regional Court sentenced Larysa Ščyrakova to three and a half years in a penal colony and a fine of 3,500 BYN ($1,386) under Art. 369.1 of the Criminal Code (discrediting the Republic of Belarus) and Art. 361.4 of the Criminal Code (facilitating extremist activities). Learn more about Łarysa Ščyrakova.
Pavieł Mažejka – Head of the cultural space City Life Center in Hrodna, journalist, and coordinator of the publishing initiative City Library, publisher. Pavieł Mažejka and lawyer Julija Jurhilevič were tried on the basis of part 2 of Art. 361-4 of the Criminal Code for “promoting extremist activities committed repeatedly by a group of persons based on a previous conspiracy.” On July 26, 2023, the Hrodna Regional Court sentenced Pavieł Mažejka to 6 years in a medium-security penal colony. Learn more about Pavieł Mažejka.
Pavieł Vinahradaŭ – blogger, online non-fiction author, and social activist. Pavieł Vinahradaŭ was arrested for a single post on Facebook. On March 16, Pavieł Vinahradaŭ was sentenced to 5 years of imprisonment. Learn more about Pavieł Vinahradaŭ.
We feel immense joy that 52 people have been released. We await the release of the remaining political prisoners.
We call on the authorities of Belarus to release all unlawfully convicted individuals and to stop politically motivated repressions.