Belarusian President Lukashenko Ready To Release A Number Of Political Opponents From Prison

President Lukashenko. (Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru)

JAKARTA - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday he would likely grant amnesty to a number of his jailed political opponents, after participating in the protests when he was re-elected, but is now seriously ill in prison for cancer.

President Lukashenko has been in power since 1994. One of the close allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin has been accused of his opponents and Western human rights groups of human rights for human rights violations and jailing his opponents on various charges.

Protests on the streets broke out in Belarus, something unprecedented, when demonstrators accused Lukashenko of cheating in elections, after being re-elected for a sixth term in 2020.

Police then detained the protesters en masse, human rights groups said more than 25,000 people, in the months after the election.

"Don't be surprised if our people who are seriously ill, that's what it says about them, are released in a few days," President Lukashenko said in a meeting marking a national holiday.

"Those who do not flee to places that are not too distant and which destroy or damage the country in 2020. These people are really sick, most of them suffer from cancer," he continued.

President Lukashenko did not mention who might meet the requirements for amnesty, whose time coincided with the holiday and the release of the Minsk capital from the Nazi colonialists in the Second World War.

Opposition rights group Vyasna noted there were about 1,403 political prisoners in the Soviet bank. It said as of May, 254 political prisoners whose health was at risk, including 92 people who were seriously ill and 63 people over 60.

Meanwhile, US-funded Belarusian language service Radio Liberty said those suffering from cancer included regional politician Grigory Kostusyov, journalist Kseniya Lutsina, musician Pavel Kuchinsky, religious activist Pavel Kuchinsky and Ruslan Slutsky, who were accused of sabotaging railroad lines.

While most of Lukashenko's most prominent opponents have fled abroad, many of them to neighboring Lithuania and Poland. Those in exile include losing presidential candidate Svitlana Tikhanouskaya, who is now leading the opposition.

Lukashenko's grip on power was strengthened after President Putin assured him of support in 2020 amid protests. Belarusian leaders in 2022 allow their country's territory to be used as a preparation post for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.