Self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko on August 22 dashed hopes for a mass release of prisoners, which US President Donald Trump had requested of him during a phone call last week.
Points of attention
- Alexander Lukashenko refuses mass release of political prisoners in Belarus despite US President Donald Trump's request.
- Opposition and human rights groups report over 1,300 political prisoners in Belarusian prisons, many arrested during mass protests after the 2020 elections.
- Lukashenko denies the existence of political prisoners and refers to them as 'bandits', challenging the stance of international leaders.
Lukashenko renounces the release of political prisoners
Lukashenko denies the existence of political prisoners in Belarus and calls these people "bandits."
Do you want one and a half or two thousand (as they count there)? Take them to yourself, take them there. Counting on the fact that we will release the bandits who burned, blew up, and they will admit it, (is not worth it. — Ed.). We will release them, and they will wage war against us again? Society will not support me here.
The Belarusian opposition and human rights groups claim that there are up to 1,300 political prisoners in Belarusian prisons — a figure also cited by US President Donald Trump.
Many of them were arrested when Lukashenko suppressed mass protests after the 2020 elections.
A surprise phone call between Trump and Lukashenko last week, followed by a post in which the US president called Lukashenko "a very respected president of Belarus" and expressed hope for the speedy release of 1,300 prisoners, opened the possibility of a warming in relations between the US and Belarus.
Recall that in June, Trump's special representative for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, unexpectedly visited Belarus and met with Lukashenko.
During this visit, the Lukashenko regime released 14 political prisoners, including former presidential candidate Serhiy Tikhanovsky, after more than five years behind bars.
