Another 12 people recognized as political prisoners
On March 26, human rights defenders recognized another 12 people as political prisoners. The total number of people currently recognized as political prisoners in Belarus is 910.
The following names have been added to the list of political prisoners:
Alena Safronava, Volha Bulanava, Dzmitry Kavalyou, Vital Tsishchanka, Artsiom Shmanouski, Yauhen Skarahod, Viktar Antushevich, Siarhei Rabtsau, Aliaksandr Manvelian, Siarhei Kuzniatsou, Eduard Mihun, Matsvei Baranau.
You can find out who these people are and why human rights defenders consider their cases politically motivated here.
The list of all political prisoners in Belarus is here.
In total, according to human rights defenders, 910 people are currently recognized as political prisoners. Recently, their total number has not significantly increased and has even decreased, sometimes noticeably. But this is not because repression in Belarus is decreasing — it's simply because, in parallel with new criminal convictions, there is a process of releasing those who have fully served their sentences. Some are also released by pardons, including with US mediation, although new prisoners are continuously taken in their place. Courts also sentence some to "home chemistry" (restricted freedom), after which a person leaves prison walls and is therefore no longer considered a prisoner.
It should also be noted that the statistics do not include everyone who is imprisoned for political reasons; the actual number of Belarusian political prisoners is higher. Human rights defenders simply do not know about some of them.