On 13 December 2025, 123 political prisoners were released in Belarus. The move followed negotiations between Alexander Lukashenko and the U.S. administration. Despite this development, more than 1,100 people convicted in politically motivated criminal cases remain behind bars in Belarusian prisons. Polish politicians argue that stronger international pressure on the authorities in Minsk is needed—not only to secure the release of additional political prisoners, but also to ease repression against Belarusian society as a whole.
“We are all pleased that 123 people have regained their freedom, but we must not forget that more than a thousand others are still in Belarusian prisons. What’s more, new political prisoners are recorded every week, because Lukashenko treats them as hostages—a bargaining chip. There are no real changes in Belarus: the law is not changing, the regime is not being liberalized,”
says Robert Tyszkiewicz, Coordinator for the Polish Diaspora and Poles Abroad at the Chancellery of the Polish Senate, in an interview with the Newseria.
According to the Viasna Human Rights Centre, as of 31 December 2025 there were 1,131 political prisoners in Belarusian prisons, including 167 women. Those incarcerated include 28 media workers, three human rights defenders, 21 doctors, and 16 legal advisers and attorneys. Thanks to diplomatic efforts, 360 political prisoners were pardoned in 2025, but during the same period at least 509 people were imprisoned and recognized as political prisoners by Belarusian human rights organizations.
“This is an authoritarian system, and Lukashenko is a dictator. A minor concession does not change the man or the system. We must continue to demand the release of all political prisoners, a softening of the regime, and gradual democratization. Without this, there can be no talk of dialogue—let alone lifting sanctions,”
says Małgorzata Gosiewska, a Member of the European Parliament from Law and Justice.
“We must remember that this was not a genuine release—these people were expelled beyond the country’s borders. They did not return home and cannot continue their activities in the places from which they were forcibly removed. They were pushed out of their own homeland.”
From the start of the crackdown in 2020, following mass protests after falsified presidential elections, through the end of 2025, at least 9,200 people stood trial in criminal cases for political reasons, and 8,000 were convicted. Over the years, the total number of individuals identified as political prisoners exceeded 4,300. In 2025 alone, at least 1,254 people were convicted in politically motivated cases, nearly three-quarters of them men (72%). The most common charge was participation in the 2020 protests.
“It would be good to undertake efforts that would lead to real change in the regime—toward a general amnesty and, above all, the repeal of these draconian laws that put people in prison. If someone can be jailed for a social media post or for appearing in a photo with the white-red-white flag, prisons in such a country will always be full,”
argues Robert Tyszkiewicz.
“Belarusian society most urgently needs democracy and free elections, because what has taken place recently were not elections but plebiscites in support of Lukashenko. Belarusian society is relatively strong in terms of civic spirit—it has not submitted to Lukashenko—and that is precisely why there are internal problems and persecutions,”
says Łukasz Kohut, a Member of the European Parliament from the Civic Coalition.
The most recent presidential election in Belarus was held on 26 January 2025, six months earlier than scheduled and seven days before the deadline for registering nominating groups. Experts from the Belarusian Helsinki Committee and the organization Viasna say this was a deliberate move that violated electoral law. In a resolution adopted on 22 October 2025, the European Parliament strongly condemned repression in Belarus and expressed solidarity with opponents of the Lukashenko regime, whom it does not recognize as the country’s legitimate president.
“We need to support Belarusian society and the opposition, fund independent Belarusian media, and at the same time ensure that sanctions against the Lukashenko regime are as painful as possible. All these actions must proceed in parallel. Without independent Belarusian media and their financing, Belarusians will not know about international support—and they will not even know what is happening inside Belarus, nor will we,”
stresses Małgorzata Gosiewska.
Since 2019, Belarusians have been the second-largest group of foreigners in Poland. According to the Office for Foreigners, as of 30 April 2025 144,000 Belarusians held valid residence documents in Poland. Between 9 August 2020 and 30 April 2025, 14,557 Belarusian citizens applied for international protection. In the 2024/2025 academic year, 12,200 Belarusians studied at Polish universities, accounting for 11.3% of all foreign students.
“It is a tremendous strength that people living in Belarus spend a lot of time in Poland. They see Europe, the West, the European Union, and how Poland has changed over the past twenty-plus years. At the same time, they are exposed to Lukashenko’s propaganda claiming that Poland is poor, that nothing good has happened here, and that it has become a colony of Western states—which is obviously untrue. This clash between propaganda and reality has a powerful effect, and it helps explain why Belarusians and other Eastern nations so strongly aspire to join the European Union,”
emphasizes Łukasz Kohut.
“We will see what comes next. Lukashenko is increasingly anxious about what will happen to him after a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine—whether he will still be useful to Putin. There are many question marks hanging over the Belarusian dictator. He very much wants a seat at the peace negotiations, because he sees with concern that they are taking place without him, even though he supported Putin’s aggression. Politically, there is a great deal to be done, and the current situation between Russia and Ukraine—the entire peace process—will have a massive, possibly decisive, impact on the future scenario in Minsk,”
concludes Robert Tyszkiewicz.
