Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tichanovskaja, who is in exile, demands that the country's regime release 224 political prisoners.
The mass arrests were carried out by Belarus' security police since President Aleksandr Lukasjenko continued his authoritarian rule – with Russian help – after a disputed election in 2020.
Tichanovskaja ran in the election after her husband and former presidential candidate was imprisoned by the authorities. She was forced to flee the country when the power cracked down on all opposition.
Over 65,000 people were detained, according to the human rights organization Vjasna, which estimates that at least 1,300 political prisoners are imprisoned.
Among those named in the appeal are Vjasna's founder, Nobel laureate Ales Bjaljatski, and opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova, whose health is reported to be very poor in prison.
According to Tichanovskaja, the situation for those on the list is very serious, they "are literally dying in prisons".
Tichanovskaja's husband, Sergej Tichanovskij, was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2021.
