Фото: t.me/tsikhanouskaya
The Viasna Human Rights Centre has described the situation of political prisoners in Belarus in 2025. According to human rights defenders, it remained critical despite mass pardons: alongside releases, cases of forced expulsion from the country, continued repression, isolation of prisoners and deaths in places of detention were recorded.
According to Viasna, as of December 23 a total of 1,135 political prisoners were being held in places of detention, including 968 men and 168 women. Among those imprisoned are 28 media representatives, three human rights defenders, 21 doctors, as well as 16 lawyers and attorneys.
Human rights defenders are aware of at least 164 political prisoners classified as being at heightened risk. This group includes at least 56 people with serious illnesses, seven people with disabilities, 26 people over the age of 60, and 10 people with mental disorders. There are also 34 political prisoners reported to be in difficult family circumstances, including large families and single parents, as well as families in which both parents are imprisoned. At least 20 families are being held in detention simultaneously.
Since 2020, more than 1,700 people have fully served their sentences and been released. At least 300 of them were released in 2025. In total, 509 people were granted political prisoner status in 2025.
During 2025, 342 people were pardoned with the assistance of the United States. Overall, since July 2024, 569 political prisoners have been released through the pardon procedure. Those released include the head and founder of Viasna, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, as well as human rights defender Uladz Labkovich. Maksim Znak, Alena Hnauk, Viktar Babaryka and Maryia Kalesnikava were also released after having spent a prolonged period in incommunicado detention.
On November 22, Alyaksandr Lukashenka “pardoned” 31 Ukrainian citizens. According to human rights defenders, only 10 of them had been convicted on political grounds. All those pardoned were handed over to the Ukrainian side.
In 2025, following their release, 189 political prisoners were forcibly taken out of Belarus. At the same time, Mikalai Statkevich refused to leave the country and remains in detention. Human rights defenders describe the practice of “release on condition of departure” as a tool of political pressure that contradicts the Constitution and international norms.
Despite the release of a number of foreign nationals, the Belarusian authorities continue criminal prosecution of foreigners. As of December 23, according to Viasna, at least 20 foreign citizens remain imprisoned in Belarus.
The practice of isolating prisoners from the outside world also continues. At least four political prisoners are being held in incommunicado detention, without contact with relatives or lawyers: Aliaksandr Aranovich, Uladzimir Kniha, Mikalai Statkevich and Aliaksandr Frantskevich.
In 2025, two deaths of political prisoners in places of detention became known. At the beginning of the year, Valiantsin Shtermer, who was serving a sentence in Shklou penal colony No. 17, died. The exact date and circumstances of his death remain unknown; it is only known that it occurred in early 2025. There is also no certainty as to whether Shtermer died in the colony or was taken to hospital, either a prison or civilian one. In 2023, he was sentenced to five years in a penal colony for eight comments opposing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Former political prisoner Dzmitry Luksha, who was in the same unit as Valiantsin, said that Shtermer arrived at the colony after suffering a stroke.
In September, 36-year-old Russian citizen Andrei Padniabienny died in Mahilyow penal colony No. 15. He had been sentenced in total to 16 years and eight months in prison and had spent almost four years behind bars. The cause of his death was asphyxiation: the political prisoner hanged himself in a punishment cell. Andrei Padniabienny is survived by three children.
It is noted that all figures may be higher due to the lack of complete information available to human rights defenders.