Latest Alexander Lukashenko News
Belarus rights group says 10 ill political prisoners have been freed
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Belarusian human rights group said Thursday that at least 10 political prisoners have been freed since the country's authoritarian president this week promised to release seriously ill people jailed in connection with massive protests nearly four years ago. ...
Leaders of Russia and China meet at a Central Asian summit in a show of deepening cooperation
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping met Wednesday for the second time in as many months as they visited Kazakhstan for a session of an international group founded to counter Western alliances. Putin and Xi last got together in May when the Kremlin leader...
Cancer-stricken Belarusian political prisoner is released after authoritarian president's promise
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A prominent Belarusian opposition politician suffering from a severe form of cancer was released Wednesday from prison, his son-in-law said, three years after his arrest in the crackdown on dissent by the country's authoritarian ruler, Alexander Lukashenko. ...
A court in Belarus sentences 20 analysts to prison terms on charges of conspiracy
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A court in Belarus has sentenced 20 political analysts to prison terms of at least 10 years each after convicting them in absentia of conspiracy to overthrow the government and taking part in an extremist group. The analysts all live outside Belarus, but...
Belarus' authoritarian leader names new foreign minister and reshuffles other top officials
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday reshuffled his top officials in what observers saw as part of maneuvering ahead of the 2025 presidential election. Lukashenko, who has ruled the country of 9.5 million with an iron hand for three decades and...
Belarus human rights group denounces detention of priest who posted Ukrainian flag on social media
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The prominent Belarusian human rights group Viasna on Tuesday denounced an extension to the detention of a Roman Catholic priest who was jailed after displaying the Ukrainian flag in a social media post. Andrzej Jukhniewicz was arrested in early May and...
An exiled Belarus opposition figure is sentenced in absentia to 20 years
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A court in Belarus has sentenced a top opposition figure living in exile to 20 years in absentia, the latest in a yearslong crackdown on dissent in the country. The court in the capital Minsk passed the sentence late Thursday on Franak Viachorka — an...
UN calls on Belarus to investigate torture and death of politicial prisoners
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — United Nations special representatives on human rights have called on Belarusian authorities to investigate the torture and deaths of political prisoners. A report produced by the UN special rapporteur for Belarus says five people who have died in custody in...
Event management firms are the latest target in Belarus crackdown on dissent
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Police in Belarus have raided dozens of event management companies suspected of opposition ties as part of on ongoing crackdown against dissent, a human rights center says. Authorities released videos of detained staffers seemingly admitting to links with...
Why Poland says Russia and Belarus are weaponizing migration to benefit Europe’s far-right
POLAND-BELARUS BORDER, Poland (AP) — A Somali woman pushes her bandaged hand between two vertical bars of a thick metal barrier separating Belarus from Poland as she and four other women gaze toward the European Union. They nod gratefully as a Polish humanitarian aid worker calls...
