Political detainees in Belarus granted amnesty

The World

PRX

News, Lethaldissent

4.6 • 884 Ratings

🗓️ 12 September 2024

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Authorities in Belarus have granted amnesty to several dozen political detainees in recent weeks. These are opposition figures, part of the movement that protested the reelection in 2020 of Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko over his authoritarian domestic policies. We hear from a political adviser to the opposition about the prisoner releases, and the reaction in opposition communities in Belarus and in the diaspora. Also, a severe drought in southern Namibia has led to food shortages. So, the country's Ministry of Environment announced a controversial plan: to cull wildlife in order to feed people in urgent need of sustenance. Plus, an influential pastor in the Philippines was just arrested after a two-week standoff between police and his supporters. And, a bicyclist has broken a world record. Lael Wilcox just became the fastest woman to circumnavigate the globe by bike.

Listen to today’s Music Heard on Air.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	In Belarus political prisoners are being freed. Do not take that as a sign that a lot there has changed.
0:11.0	They are not entirely free and the regime doesn't want them
0:15.1	to speak out about the truth in the prisons. I'm Marker Wurman today what
0:18.9	Bello Russians in exile have to say about the news. Also in Namibia in southern Africa, a controversial
0:25.0	proposal to help people affected by drought is putting wildlife in danger.
0:30.1	You start killing iconic species like elephants and hippos.
0:34.0	People tend to become emotional about it.
0:37.0	Plus, a church leader in the Philippines faces serious criminal charges
0:41.0	there and in the US.
0:42.8	Not everyone is surprised.
0:44.4	These are all red flags, right?
0:46.0	Money, cash, private jets, weaponry.
0:49.7	And riding a bicycle around the globe in record time. That's all ahead today here on the world.
0:59.4	This is the world, I'm Marco Wurman. Bella Rousse is a place that got a lot of attention for a moment in 2020, when the streets
1:05.8	erupted with protesters in the lead up to the 2020 presidential election there.
1:11.8	What you're hearing is from those protests, audio recorded by Radio Free Europe.
1:15.0	At the time you may recall, longtime authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko was being challenged by opposition leader,
1:22.0	Svetlana Tika Noveskaya who had tons of
1:24.7	popular support but Lukashenko was re-elected amid charges of vote rigging.
1:29.4	Once again protesters took to the streets as time authorities cracked down.
1:35.0	Thousands of people were arrested and detained, some given long prison sentences.
1:40.0	Well now, Belarus is releasing some of its political prisoners despite the fact that
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from PRX, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of PRX and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.