Authorities in Belarus have granted amnesty to several dozen political detainees in recent weeks. These are opposition figures, part of the movement that protested the reelection in 2020 of Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko over his authoritarian domestic policies. Lukashenko is an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a supporter of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Host Marco Werman speaks with Franak Viačorka, political adviser to opposition leader Sviatlana Tsihanouskaya about the prisoner releases, and the reaction in opposition communities in Belarus and in the diaspora.
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