WARSAW: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Friday pardoned 30 prisoners convicted over protests, the presidential website said.
Lukashenko “signed a decree pardoning 30 people convicted for crimes related to protests,” the statement said, without giving names.
Those pardoned are 14 women and 16 men, the site added: “Some of them have serious illnesses. There are people of retirement age.”
All those pardoned “admitted guilt, sincerely repented for what they did and committed to a law-abiding way of life,” the statement added.
Moscow-ally Lukashenko crushed mass pro-democracy protests after an election on August 9, 2020, in which the government was widely condemned for having allegedly falsified results.
Leading rights group Viasna estimates Belarus has around 1,400 political prisoners. Thousands more people have fled the country.
In July, 18 political prisoners were amnestied or released on exchange, according to Viasna.
Lukashenko last month pardoned a German man, Rico Krieger, sentenced to death on espionage charges, who was exchanged in a large-scale prisoner swap involving the United States and Russia.
Belarus pardons 30 prisoners sentenced for protests: presidency
https://arab.news/m46k9
Belarus pardons 30 prisoners sentenced for protests: presidency
- Lukashenko “signed a decree pardoning 30 people convicted for crimes related to protests,” the statement said
- Those pardoned are 14 women and 16 men, the site added: “Some of them have serious illnesses“
Thailand frees 18 Cambodian soldiers as ceasefire holds
- The Southeast Asian neighbors agreed on a ceasefire that took effect on Saturday, halting 20 days of fighting that killed at least 101 people and displaced more than half a million
BANGKOK/PHNOM PENH: Thailand on Wednesday released 18 Cambodian soldiers it had detained since July under the renewed ceasefire the two countries agreed on the weekend to end a border conflict, Cambodian and Thai authorities said.
The Southeast Asian neighbors agreed on a ceasefire that took effect at noon (0500 GMT) on Saturday, halting 20 days of fighting that killed at least 101 people and displaced more than half a million on both sides, and included fighter-jet sorties, exchanges of rocket fire and artillery barrages.
The soldiers were due to be returned on Tuesday, but Thailand over alleged breaches of the ceasefire deal, which Cambodia denied.
Cambodian Defense Ministry spokesperson Maly Socheata said the soldiers were handed over at a border checkpoint at 10 a.m. (0300 GMT) on Wednesday after 155 days in Thai custody.
Thailand’s Foreign Ministry said the soldiers had been treated “in
The border clashes reignited early this month, following the breakdown in a
ceasefire deal
that US President
Donald Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim helped broker to halt a previous round of conflict in July.
