Alexander Lukashenko, freeing from the punishment, has pardoned 9 people convicted of involvement in the events on the Independence Square on December 19, 2010.
This is reported by BELTA referred to the presidential press service.
The decision on pardoning was made on the basis of these persons' requests, taking into account the fact that they are aware of the illegality of their actions, they pleaded guilty and repented sincerely.
All of them are served their sentences in the prison of Bobruisk. Among pardoned persons are Dmitry Drozd, Artem Gribkov, Sergey Kazakov, Andrei Protasenya. It is likely that among the pardoned are also Vladimir Loban and Alexander Klaskouski. Information about the last is specified, writes the Human Rights Center Viasna.
The head of the presidential press service Pavel Legki told the reporters of Radio Liberty, that according to the practice of law enforcement, people who asked for a pardon and mercy are not named officially, as it relates to human rights. The names of pardoned persons may be called only with their consent.
Let us remind, that of "organizing and participating in the riots" on December 19, 2010 43 people were condemned, 30 of whom got prison terms. Among them are the three former candidates for presidency. Human rights activists do not exclude that they may be pardoned as well.
As the director of the NGO Belarusian Helsinki Committee Oleg Gulak has noted in the interview to BelaPAN , he "has already nothing to be amazed at" in terms of law enforcement in Belarus. "In our history it have already been that the former presidential candidate Alexander Kozulin was released on pardon without his petition to be pardoned. So I would not be surprised if the other presidential candidates were released without this petition," said Gulak.
