Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has pardoned dozens of political prisoners, his office said, but critics warned that the crackdown on dissent continues, with more than 1,000 people still imprisoned since mass demonstrations in 2020.

The 32 prisoners pardoned were “convicted of extremist crimes”, the presidency said in a statement on Wednesday. Seventeen of them suffer from chronic diseases and nine were older than 50.

“The Ministry of Internal Affairs will ensure control over their law-abiding behaviour,” it said.

This marked the sixth wave of pardons of political prisoners since July this year, with a total of 178 people released, according to a tally based on data from human rights groups.

“It fills my heart with joy that another 32 political prisoners in Belarus are set to be released,” said Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, an exiled opposition leader who claimed victory in the 2020 election.

“However, we must see the harsh reality: repression continues & the number of political prisoners keeps growing,” she said in a post on social media platform X.

Lukashenko suppressed mass protests in the wake of the disputed 2020 election.

He was re-elected to a sixth consecutive term in a vote rejected by most of the international community over widespread allegations of fraud. The election was followed by a string of controversial legislation aimed at further crushing dissent, including the criminalisation of criticism against the president.

According to the Viasna human rights group, at least 1,275 political prisoners remain behind bars since 2020.

Most of them were convicted for insulting Lukashenko, with more than 500 being sentenced to imprisonment in penal colonies, the group said.

As the country gears up for the next presidential election in January 2025, repression has further intensified, according to Viasna. Between September and mid-November, at least 1,213 political administrative cases were heard in courts with the majority of cases being related to “spreading extremist material”, the group said.

Lukashenko has ruled the country since 1994 with an iron fist. He has moved Minsk closer to Moscow and allowed Russia to use Belarus as a staging post for its 2022 invasion of Ukraine – a move that further strained the country’s ties with the West.

Political prisoners are held in tough conditions, often denied access to lawyers and contact with relatives on the outside.

Last week, jailed protest leader Maria Kolesnikova was photographed meeting her father in what appeared to be a prison hospital – the first news on her condition in 20 months.

Recently released prisoners living in exile have told the AFP news agency that it is almost impossible to lead a normal life in Belarus as a former political prisoner, with people remaining under close watch and struggling to find employment.