In a sudden turn of events, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has freed several political prisoners. This move came after a meeting with Keith Kellogg, a special envoy sent by former U. S. President Donald Trump. The most notable release was Sergei Tsikhanouski, an opposition leader who had been behind bars since 2020. Tsikhanouski had dared to challenge Luka...
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele has put forth a bold idea. He wants to swap prisoners with Venezuela. This isn't just any swap. Bukele is talking about trading Venezuelans who were kicked out of the U. S. and are now in Salvadoran jails for political prisoners in Venezuela. This proposal was made public on the social media platform X. Bukele listed out names of...
A ballet dancer found herself in the middle of a political storm. Ksenia Karelina, who holds both U. S. and Russian citizenship, was accused of treason. Her crime? Donating money to a charity that supported Ukraine. This led to her imprisonment in Russia. The news of her release came as a surprise to many. It happened in an overnight prisoner exchange in Abu Dhabi, U...
For many years the choices we make about diet seemed personal. Over time however that idea gets challenged . What happens when a choice about food consumption is not made by individuals? What role does state involvement play? Who decides what choices are? Let's not make any mistake political prisoners struggled with states over diet. Instead of nour...
Enter Donald Trump, making quite the choice in his presidential term. He took some bold steps with his pardon. For starters, Trump cleared a former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich of his crimes. He landed a parden, not an easy thing to understand. Trump originally meted out a new sentence just ten years earlier on Corruption charges. In Growing up in Chicago, time...
Bill Condon's "Kiss of the Spider Woman" might not be perfect, but it sure is entertaining. The movie takes a Broadway musical, set in Argentina in the 1980s, and turns it into a film that's part drama, part fantasy, and all heart. The story follows two cellmates: Valentín, a political prisoner, and Luis, a gay window dresser. At first, they seem like an odd pair, bu...
The Biden administration recently decided to remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. This change came after Cuba freed 553 political prisoners, many of whom were jailed following huge protests in July 2021. The move was welcomed by the Catholic Church, which had been negotiating with the government. Cuba's president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, thanked those...
Imagine Donald Trump back in the White House, planning to pardon those who stormed the U. S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Some rioters have already pleaded guilty, while others await trial. Trump’s empathy for these rioters, whom he calls “patriots, ” raises questions about how far his pardons might go. Would he pardon all, or just some? Could he face any backlash? T...
The US government celebrated the release of 135 Nicaraguan political prisoners, now in Guatemala seeking refuge in other countries. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan called it a humanitarian victory, emphasizing that no one should be jailed for peacefully expressing themselves. But is this truly a triumph for freedom, or is it a calculated move with hidden mo...
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich made waves this week with a shocking proposal: to cut off aid to Gaza's 2 million residents until Israeli hostages are returned. Smotrich, a prominent figure in Israel's far-right political scene, argued that Israel should take control of distributing aid within Gaza and accused Hamas of controlling distribution channels. Wh...