Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski has been given a 10-year jail sentence by a court in Belarus on charges of financing and smuggling activities that violate public order, according to human rights organization Viasna.
Supporters of the 60-year-old claim that the authoritarian Belarusian government, led by Alexander Lukashenko, is attempting to silence him. Bialiatski was one of the recipients of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize and was arrested in 2021 after widespread protests following a disputed election in the previous year.
He was accused of bringing money into Belarus to support opposition groups. During the 2020 protests, Lukashenko opponents were frequently arrested and demonstrators were met with police violence.
Bialiatski, along with fellow campaigners Valentin Stefanovich and Vladimir Labkovich, both of whom pleaded not guilty, were tried together and were given prison sentences of nine and seven years respectively. Bialiatski founded Viasna in 1996.
The trial of Ales Bialiatski, which resulted in a 10-year prison sentence, has been criticized by his wife Natalya Pinchuk, who called it a “cruel” verdict against human rights defenders. Despite being held in prison since his arrest, Bialiatski has written to his wife, assuring her that he is fine and not complaining about his health.
The sentencing of Bialiatski and two other activists has broken the hearts of supporters, according to Viasna spokesperson Kostya Staradubets, who also condemned the “torturous” conditions in which they are being held.
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the exiled opposition leader of Belarus, described the sentencing as “simply appalling” and urged action to free the activists. Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Nobel Peace Prize committee, characterized the charges against Bialiatski as “politically motivated” and described the verdict as a “tragedy”.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell condemned the “sham trials” and stated they were a part of the Lukashenko regime’s attempt to suppress human rights defenders. Viasna reports that there are currently 1,458 political prisoners in Belarus, although the authorities deny the claim. Bialiatski founded Viasna in 1996 in response to government crackdowns on street protests, and has previously been jailed for tax evasion charges.
Read the full story:: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64833756
