The largest amnesty of political prisoners in Belarus

The talks were held on Thursday, March 19. Following their conclusion, 250 individuals were pardoned—235 of whom were allowed to remain in Belarus, while 15 were transported to Lithuania and Poland. Among those sent to Lithuania were TV Belsat journalist Katsiaryna Andreyeva and human rights activists from the “Viasna” Human Rights Center, Marfa Rabkova, and Valyantsin Stefanovich.

“In exchange for the release of this group of political prisoners, the United States is lifting sanctions against Belinvestbank, the Development Bank, and the Ministry of Finance. The US has also decided to remove all sanctions against two Belarusian enterprises—the Belarusian Potash Company and Belaruskali,” announced John Coale.

Lukashenko has skillfully used political prisoners as leverage in relations with the United States. The Belarusian opposition accuses the president of “trading people like commodities.” This is the first instance of such a large-scale, one-time amnesty. The previous major amnesty took place in December 2025, when 123 individuals were released. If the data from the “Viasna” Human Rights Center are accurate, the number of political prisoners in Belarus has now fallen below 1,000. However, it should be noted that there is no absolute certainty that all victims of the regime are recorded by the organisation. The actual number of political prisoners may be higher.