Nobel laureate from Belarus sentenced to 10 years in prison for criticizing the authorities

Belarusian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski was sentenced on March 3 by a court in Minsk (Belarus) to 10 years in a maximum security colony. He was found “guilty of smuggling” and “repeated violation of the order of organizing or holding mass events.” Writes about this CNN.

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Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tikhanovskaya called the sentence against Bialiatski and other activists in the same case "terrible."

“We must do everything to fight this shameful injustice and free them,” she wrote on Twitter.

Germany considers the 10-year prison term Minsk's attack on civil society. On Twitter, German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock called the accusations and the trial against Bialiatski and other defendants, Valentin Stefanovich and Vladimir Labkovich, a "farce". She said that these people are being judged “simply for their many years of struggle for human rights, dignity and freedom in Belarus.”

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“The Minsk regime is fighting civil society with violence and imprisonment,” Burbock said, stressing that “this is the same daily shame as Lukashenka’s support for Putin’s war in Ukraine.”

Burbock called on Belarus to stop political persecution and demanded the release of all more than 1400 political prisoners.

Bialiatski, a democratic activist, has been documenting human rights violations in Belarus since the 1980s. He founded the Vesna organization in 1996 after a referendum that solidified the authoritarian powers of President and close Russian ally Alexander Lukashenko.

The activist was arrested in 2020 amid mass protests against the Lukashenka regime.

Byalyatsky received the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize along with human rights organizations from Russia and Ukraine.

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The laureates were recognized for "outstanding efforts to document war crimes, human rights violations and abuses of power" in their respective countries.

“For many years they have promoted the right to criticize the authorities and protect the fundamental rights of citizens,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee said at the time.

Byalyatsky was congratulated by the Belarusian opposition politician Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.

“This award is an important recognition for all Belarusians fighting for freedom and democracy,” she wrote on Twitter. “All political prisoners must be released without delay.”

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