Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko has today pardoned 11 more political prisonerssentenced for taking part in anti-government protests on 19 December 2010. The full list of names is not yet known, but Index believes that activists Pavel Vinogradov and Fyodor Mirzayanov are among those released.

Around five others remain in prison. A government press release stated that Lukashenko had been “guided by the principles of humanity”.

In August, The Royal Bank of Scotland announced that it will no longer engage in “any type of capital-raising” on behalf of the government of Belarus after an Index on Censorship and Free Belarus Now campaign.