With the pardons carried out at the end of November, the total number of released individuals has risen to 156. Among them are well-known figures such as Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, presidential candidate Viktor Babaryka, and opposition activist Maria Kolesnikova. According to reports, all those released were deported from the country, with more than 100 of them sent to Ukraine for further transportation to Poland and Lithuania.
Also among the pardoned are former TUT.BY editor-in-chief Marina Zolotova, who was sentenced to 12 years in 2023, as well as human rights defenders Valentin Stefanovich and Vladimir Labkovich, public figure Alexander Feduta, and politician Pavel Severinets.
However, the list of those released does not include Polish minority activist and Gazeta Wyborcza correspondent Andrei Pochobut, who became a laureate of the Sakharov Prize from the European Parliament this year. It has been reported that he was offered to write a petition for clemency but refused.
U.S. Special Envoy for Belarus John Cole noted that discussions on sanctions between Washington and Minsk will continue. "As relations between our countries normalize, more sanctions will be lifted," he added.
Cole also emphasized that the negotiations with Lukashenko, which took place on Friday and Saturday, were "very productive." Topics discussed included the normalization of relations and the war in Ukraine, and he noted that Lukashenko "provides useful advice on resolving the conflict."
Sanctions against OAO "Belaruskaliy," one of the largest producers of potash fertilizers in the world, were imposed by the U.S. in August 2021 following the elections in Belarus, which were not recognized by the West. Before the 2020 crisis, the export of potash fertilizers brought Belarus about $2.4 billion a year, accounting for approximately 8% of total exports and about 4% of the country's gross domestic product.
