Belarusian authorities put pressure on pardoned political prisoners, rights groups say

TALLINN, Estonia — Belarusian human rights activists on Monday accused the government of pressuring political prisoners pardoned by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko and forcing them to cooperate with authorities.

Over the past three months, Lukashenko has pardoned 115 activists convicted for participating in the protest against his rule.

Those pardoned represented only a small fraction of the more than 1,300 political prisoners in Belarus, according to the Viasna human rights center. They include the group’s founder and Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski and Polish journalist Andrzej Poczobut, whose release Poland is demanding. At least six political prisoners died behind bars, Viasna said.

Viasna and other rights groups said Monday that those granted amnesty were not allowed to leave the country and were forced to participate in propaganda videos.

Andrei Stryzhak, of rights group BYSOL, said some of the amnesty beneficiaries had their phones infested with software intended to spy on the opposition. “We categorically condemn the pressure exerted by the authorities on former political prisoners,” he said.

Viasna representative Pavel Sapelka said Belarusian law enforcement threatened amnestied people with repeat convictions or reprisals against their relatives to force them to cooperate with authorities.

In 2020, Belarus was rocked by the largest protests on record following an election that gave Lukashenko a sixth term but was condemned by the opposition and the West as fraudulent. According to Viasna, 65,000 people have been arrested since the protests began and hundreds of thousands have fled Belarus.