Support for Political Prisoners in Belarus

The Belarusian regime pardoned 123 political prisoners on 13 December 2025, including many who had been imprisoned since 2020. Among those released are Maria Kalesnikava, one of the leaders of the opposition in Belarus, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, lawyer Maxim Znak, former TUT.BY editor-in-chief Maryna Zolatava and former presidential candidate Viktar Babaryka, according to the Belarusian human rights centre Viasna.

Since 2020, thousands of Belarusians have risked their personal freedom to stand up for democracy, human rights and a life of dignity. Many of them paid for their determination with years of imprisonment, and quite a few of them were abused or tortured.

We did not leave these people alone in prison, and we will not leave them alone now when they have been released.

But this mass release of political prisoners in Belarus is a necessary but insufficient step. Together with 27 International NGOs we have published a joint statement calling for the release of all political prisoners in Belarus.

As of 9 February 2025, 1,144 political prisoners remain unjustly imprisoned in Belarus.

We will continue to campaign for their release, including through the godparenthood for political prisoners in Belarus by Members of the European Parliaments. Since the beginning of 2026, 11 MPs have already taken on a new godparenthood.

Links:

• 6 members of German Bundestag became godparents
• New godparents from France, Switzerland and European Parliament
• Former German Minister became godparent for Mikalai Statkevich

2025 marks the 5th anniversary of LIBERECO’s international #WeStandBYyou Godparenthood campaign for political prisoners in Belarus. In 2020, the launch of the solidarity campaign was initially sparked by tens of thousands of arbitrary arrests throughout Belarus during rallies and protests, both before and after the presidential elections.

The primary goal was to acquire symbolic godparents for political prisoners and thus to obtain both political and emotional support for them and their relatives, as well as to generate as much publicity as possible regarding the human rights violations in Belarus. Feedback from former political prisoners and their relatives shows that the campaign had a significant impact on them, giving them strength through support and interaction. A former political prisoner stated:

“At first, I didn’t believe that people on the outside cared. But when I realised that wasn’t the case and things went even further, hope appeared. The words of the penal administration, that no one needed us and that everyone had forgotten us, have turned into dust. I began to feel proud of myself and decided not to give up. My mother received letters with warm greetings for me. I also received lots of nice things for personal hygiene and other things I needed. It was extremely nice.”

Since 2020, the campaign has evolved from an emergency solidarity initiative into an international advocacy movement involving 448 politicians from 24 countries. Thanks to the tremendous efforts of around 35 volunteers who participated in the campaign over time, we have established 564 godparenthoods for political prisoners to date.

In Belarus's current atmosphere of fear and lawlessness, even the smallest sign of solidarity with political prisoners and their families is crucial. Your support enables us to continue our work on their behalf. Thank you very much!

Links:

• The full report on the campaign evaluation can be found here
• More about our Belarus program