Every ninth person who filed a petition was pardoned by Belarus’ Head of State in 2023

At a recent meeting of the Commission on Pardon and Release from Criminal Liability, the Deputy Head of the Belarus President Administration, Olga Chupris, announced some statistics

“In 2021-2022, the commission considered 645 petitions for clemency, 52 of them were granted. This is a fairly large figure. As of August 2023, the Head of State pardoned every ninth of those who had applied. Two more meetings of the commission are planned until the end of the year in accordance with the regulations,” Ms. Chupris said.

As noted by the Deputy Head of the President Administration, each of the convicts has the right to count on the pardon of the Head of State. “Work with petitions for clemency is carried out on a regular basis. They all are addressed to the President, but are previously considered by the commission,” she explained.

Ms. Chupris added that visiting sessions to prisons are also an opportunity to see in what conditions convicts are serving their sentences. This is important to understand what needs to be taken into account when reporting to the Head of State in the future.