Another 11 people, including detained booksellers, recognized as political prisoners
On March 13, human rights defenders recognized another 11 people as political prisoners. The total number of people currently recognized as political prisoners in Belarus is 1141.
The following names were added to the list of political prisoners:
Dzmitry Novikau, Natallia Krauchak, Raman Karpau, Ivan Pietranievich, Dzmitry Kondrus, Ihar Dzetsiaronak, Uladzimir Mahronau, Aliaksei Charešnieu, Aliaksandr Yaudakha, Zmitser Kolas, Vatslau Bahdanovich.
The latter three — Aliaksandr Yaudakha, Zmitser Kolas, and Vatslau Bahdanovich — were detained as part of the "booksellers' case", which the authorities have launched against the national intelligentsia over the past month.
Who these people are and why human rights defenders consider their cases politically motivated, you can find out here.
The list of all political prisoners in Belarus is here.
In total, at this moment, 1141 people are recognized as political prisoners, according to human rights defenders. Recently, their total number has not significantly increased and even sometimes decreases. However, this is not because repressions in Belarus are diminishing — it's simply that, in parallel with new cases of imprisonment in criminal cases, there is a process of releasing those convicted who have fully served their sentences. Some are also released by pardons, although new prisoners are constantly being added in their place. Courts also sentence some to "house arrest with correctional labor" (literally "home chemistry"), after which the 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 real number of Belarusian political prisoners is higher. Human rights defenders simply have no information about some.
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