TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarus' authoritarian president has pardoned 18 more prisoners as part of his recent effort at a rapprochement with the United States.
In a decree announced on Thursday, President Alexander Lukashenko pardoned 18 prisoners, including 15 people convicted on extremism charges, which are widely used in Belarus in politically motivated prosecutions. A total of 11 pardoned prisoners are women, the authorities said in an online statement.
This is the latest in a series of prisoner releases, encouraged by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration. Lukashenko, largely shunned by the West since his disputed reelection in 2020 that triggered mass protests and a brutal government crackdown in response, has sought to mend fences with Washington in recent years, including by releasing prisoners.
Since the two leaders spoke on the phone in August, Lukashenko has released 123 prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and prominent opposition figures Maria Kolesnikova and Viktar Babaryka. In response, the U.S. lifted sanctions off Belarus' potash fertilizer production and its flagship national airline, Belavia.
Those pardoned this week bring the total number to more than 140. John Coale, the U.S. special envoy for Belarus, hailed the move Thursday on X as “another notable step in the relationship between the U.S. and Belarus as President Trump has tasked me with getting all the political prisoners out.”
In the meantime, a total of 1,140 political prisoners remain behind bars, according to the Belarusian human rights group Viasna.
Rights advocates have repeatedly warned that repression in Belarus continues despite the releases, as more people are arrested and convicted. Viasna lawyer Pavel Sapelka compared this practice to a “revolving door.”
On Thursday, a court in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, convicted a prominent journalist and her daughter on extremism charges over their work with a pollster that has been designated by the authorities as an extremist organization. Tsina Palynskaya, 51, and Marharyta Rabinovich, 23, were each sentenced to two years in prison.
Earlier this week, prominent Belarusian musician and poet Aleh Khamenka was sentenced to three years in prison and a steep fine on charges of extremist activities over his cooperation with a banned radio station. Khamenka was detained in June after his house was raided and has spent more than a half year behind bars.
Also this week, Belarusian authorities designated the PEN Belarus association of writers, which has more than 100 members, as an extremist organization.
The head of PEN Belarus, Tatsyana Nyadbay, said in a phone interview with The Associated Press that the move was “horrendous,” because it “puts the writers who remain in Belarus at risk.”
Among the members of PEN Belarus are Svetlana Alexievich, who won the 2015 Nobel Prize in literature, and Bialiatski, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022. Alexievich left Belarus after the 2020 protests, and Bialiatski spent more than five years in prison on charges widely seen as politically motivated.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko arrives to attend a meeting of the supreme council of the Union State with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov, Pool)
CHICAGO (AP) — Three former Democratic presidents are set to speak at a Chicago church as mourners pay a final public tribute to the late Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.
Former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Joe Biden received cheers and applause Friday as they joined thousands of people for a celebration of life for the civil rights leader. But it was “the South Side’s own, President Barack Obama,” as an announcer described him, who received the loudest round of applause as he entered the chamber.
Obama, Clinton and Biden followed the arrival of Jackson's family into the church sanctuary.
Former Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris is also listed as a speaker on the program, according to the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the organization that Jackson founded.
President Donald Trump, who praised Jackson on social media after he died and also shared photos of the two of them together, was not attending the service, according to his public schedule issued by the White House.
The event honors the protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate and follows memorial services that drew large crowds in Chicago and South Carolina, where Jackson was born. Friday’s celebration — at an influential Black church with a 10,000-seat arena — is expected to be the largest.
Crowds of attendees waited in long lines outside the church on the city’s South Side as television screens played excerpts of some of Jackson’s most famous speeches. Inside, vendors sold pins with his 1984 presidential slogan and hoodies with his “I Am Somebody” mantra.
A prerecorded video address of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders appeared on auditorium screens as attendees continued to file into the chamber.
Sanders praised Jackson’s dual presidential bids as an “unprecedented” effort to bridge divides along race and class. The Vermont progressive, who twice mounted unsuccessful bids for the Democratic presidential nomination, praised Jackson for inspiring “enthusiasm” across racial and age divides.
Marketing professional Chelsia Bryan said Friday that she decided to attend the memorial service because it was “a chance to be part of something historic.”
“As a Black woman, knowing that someone pretty much gave their life, dedicated their life to make sure I can do the things that I can do now, he’s worth honoring,” Bryan said.
Jesse Jackson Jr. said all were welcome to celebrate his father’s life.
“Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative, right wing, left wing because his life is broad enough to cover the full spectrum of what it means to be an American,” Jackson Jr. said last month. “Dad would have wanted us to have a great meeting to discuss our differences, to find ways of moving forward and moving together.”
The elder Jackson died last month at age 84 after battling a rare neurological disorder that affected his mobility and ability to speak. Family members say he continued coming into the office until last year and communicated through hand signals. His final public appearances included the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Sitting in the crowd was 90-year-old Mary Lovett. She said Jackson’s advocacy inspired her many times, from when she moved from Mississippi to Chicago in the 1960s, taught elementary school and became a mom. She twice voted for Jackson during both of his presidential runs and appreciated how he always spoke up for underrepresented people. “He’s gone, but I hope his legacy lives,” she said. “I hope we can remember what he tried to teach us.”
Jackson's pursuits were countless, taking him to all corners of the globe: Advocating for the poor and underrepresented on issues including voting rights, health care, job opportunities and education. He scored diplomatic victories with world leaders, and through Rainbow PUSH Coalition, he channeled cries for Black pride and self-determination into corporate boardrooms, pressuring executives to make America a more open and equitable society.
Jackson’s services in Chicago and South Carolina drew civic leaders, school groups and everyday people who said they were touched by Jackson’s work, from scholarship programs to advocating for inmates. Several states flew flags at half-staff in his honor.
Services in Washington, D.C., were tabled after a request to allow Jackson to lie in honor in the United States Capitol rotunda was denied by House Speaker Mike Johnson, who said the space is typically reserved for select officials, including former presidents. Details on a future event have not been made public.
In his final months, Jackson received numerous visitors in Chicago, including the Clintons and the Rev. Al Sharpton, who also attended his memorial services in Chicago last week.
“He has been the central mentor of my life,” Sharpton said. “The challenge for us that we’ve got to make sure that all he lived for was not in vain.”
Associated Press reporter Matt Brown contributed to this story.
The casket with the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrives for the Public Homegoing Service at the House of Hope in Chicago, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
The casket with the Rev. Jesse Jackson is seen before the Public Homegoing Service at the House of Hope in Chicago, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Veronica Edmonds waits on line to enter the Public Homegoing Service for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at the House of Hope in Chicago, Friday, March 6, 2026.(AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
People stand on line before the Public Homegoing Service for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at the House of Hope in Chicago, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Lisa Fields waits on line to enter the Public Homegoing Service for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at the House of Hope in Chicago, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
People stand on line to enter the Public Homegoing Service for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at the House of Hope in Chicago, Friday, March 6, 2026.( (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
People stand on line to enter the Public Homegoing Service for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at the House of Hope in Chicago, Friday, March 6, 2026.((AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
People pay their respects to the Rev. Jesse Jackson inside the South Carolina Statehouse as he lies in state Monday, March 2, 2026, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley, Pool)
Santita Jackson, daughter of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, left, speaks at Brookland Baptist Church during a tribute service honoring her late father Monday, March 2, 2026, in West Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)
The casket of the Rev. Jesse Jackson is carried to the South Carolina Statehouse, where he will lie in state, Monday, March 2, 2026, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley, Pool)
Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., hugs a mourner at a public visitation for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Jacqueline Jackson, the wife of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, attends his public visitation at Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
