Political prisoners still behind bars in Belarus

Belarus has ruthlessly stamped out dissent under President Alexander Lukashenko, a Kremlin ally, who has ruled the country since 1994.

While he freed several political prisoners in a rare amnesty Wednesday, the Viasna human rights watchdog estimates some 1,400 are still behind bars.

The brutal repression has also driven hundreds of thousands of Belarusians into exile.

Here are some of the best known political prisoners still being held:

 Tikhanovsky, husband of opposition leader-

 Sergei Tikhanovsky, a blogger with a popular YouTube channel, tried to run against Lukashenko in the 2020 election.

He was arrested and has paid a heavy price for his criticism of Lukashenko, whom he referred to as a "cockroach".

Tikhanovsky is married to the now leading opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who ran in his place after his arrest, and claims to have won the vote, which the West said was rigged.

Tikhanovsky was sentenced in 2021 to 18 years in prison for "organising riots" and "inciting hatred" and then to 18 months extra for "insubordination".

Tikhanovskaya, who lives in Lithuania, said she last heard from him in March 2023.

 Kolesnikova, leading figure in the 2020 protests 

 A former professional musician, Maria Kolesnikova was one of the leaders of mass protests against Lukashenko's re-election in 2020.

She was imprisoned after resisting an attempt by the authorities to deport her in the wake of the elections.

She was later sentenced in 2021 to 11 years in prison for a "plot" against the government and other accusations.

Her health declined in prison and she was hospitalised in November 2022 with a "perforated ulcer".

 Bialiatski, co-winner of Nobel Prize 

 A leading figure in Belarus's human rights community and a co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, Ales Bialiatski was sentenced last year to 10 years in prison for "foreign currency trafficking".

The 61-year-old has already been imprisoned twice in the past for alleged tax evasion.

Bialiatski is the founder of Viasna, the main human rights defence organisation working in Belarus and a key source of information about the repression.

 Crackdown on press freedom 

 Press freedom has been extinguished under Lukashenko.

The watchdog Reporters Without Borders says there are 39 journalists in Belarusian prisons.

Two senior staff of the independent news website Tut.by, editor Marina Zolotova and general director Lyudmila Chekina, were sentenced last year to 12 years in prison for "tax evasion" and "incitement to hatred".

Their outlet was branded "extremist" by the authorities.

Journalist Andrzej Poczobut, an activist for Belarus's Polish minority, was sentenced to eight years in prison in February 2023 at a time of heightened tensions with Warsaw.

Belarusian authorities in 2021 forced a plane carrying opposition journalist Roman Protasevich to land in Belarus.

He was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2023 but was later pardoned after recording a "confession" video -- that his allies said was coerced -- and a tearful interview shown on Belarusian state television.