Families cling to hope in Belarus after first release of political prisoners

Dozens of prisoners were freed unexpectedly this summer, now relatives are hoping more will follow.

British Broadcasting CorporationWatchHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureTravelEarthVideoLiveHomeNewsIsrael-Gaza WarWar in UkraineUS ElectionUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC InDepthBBC VerifySportBusinessExecutive LoungeTechnology of BusinessWomen at the HelmFuture of BusinessInnovationTechnologyScience & HealthArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindCultureFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsTravelDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListEarthNatural WondersWeather & ScienceClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingVideoLiveLive NewsLive SportHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureTravelEarthVideoLiveAudioWeatherNewslettersFamilies cling to hope in Belarus after first release of political prisonersBBCSentenced to four years for his work as a journalist, Dmitry Luksha was released unexpectedlyDmitry Luksha built up muscles breaking rocks in a Belarusian prison camp, put to work alongside men convicted of murder and drug smuggling.

The journalist was imprisoned in 2022 and sentenced to four years for his reports on the mass opposition protests of 2020 and his country’s later complicity in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

But he’s just been released early, one of several dozen political prisoners freed this summer in a series of surprise amnesties.

It’s given hope to the relatives of others that further releases might follow.

“One day they called me in, and a man from the prosecutor’s office just asked, ‘Do you want to go home?’,” Dmitry recalls, now in Poland with his wife, Polina.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9qg8d50z1zo

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