MINSK: Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko has released from jail six opposition leaders – considered the last political prisoners in the ex-Soviet state – less than two months before presidential polls, the presidency announced Saturday.
A pardon for the six was revealed in a brief statement. Among the freed opponents was Mikola Statkevich, a former presidential candidate imprisoned since 2010.
A smiling Statkevich was given a hero’s welcome by around 200 supporters at Minsk station upon his release late Saturday.
“I will continue to do what I have always done, work for a free Belarus,” he told the crowd.
The surprise move to release the …read more
Source: theSun
