Lukashenko grants pardons to 18 prisoners, most facing extremism charges

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko pardoned 18 prisoners, with 15 of them serving sentences for politically motivated extremism charges. The majority of those pardoned were 11 women in difficult life circumstances, including six who have children with disabilities. The pardons were conditional on the prisoners submitting written expressions of remorse and admissions of guilt. Belarus has imprisoned thousands of people on extremism charges since mass protests erupted following the disputed 2020 presidential election, which opposition groups and Western governments consider fraudulent. The Lukashenko government has used broad anti-extremism laws to prosecute political opponents, journalists, and civil society activists as part of its crackdown on dissent.