Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko pardoned 15 prisoners on Friday in what state media called a humanitarian gesture, two days before an election in which he is set to extend his 31-year rule.

Belarus has more than 1,000 political prisoners, many of them detained during the mass protests that erupted after Lukashenko’s contentious re-election in 2020

Belarusians will vote on Sunday in a presidential election that is all but certain to see President Alexander Lukashenko win a seventh term. View on euronews