Belarus president pardons 37 political prisoners

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has pardoned 37 political prisoners (Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool Photo via AP)

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Monday pardoned 37 people serving prison sentences for “extremist” crimes, his office said.

It is the fourth time since July that the authoritarian leader has pardoned dozens of political prisoners in what some observers see as an attempt to soften his image.