- Mr. Bialiatski was one of three Nobel Peace Prize laureates in 2022.
- Mr. Bialiatski appeared in court with two other activists.
- He was sentenced to three years in prison in 2011 after being convicted of tax evasion, which he denied.
A Belarussian court convicted Nobel Peace Prize recipient Ales Bialiatski to ten years in prison.
He was convicted of smuggling and financing “grossly disturbing public order,” according to the Viasna human rights group.
Supporters of Mr. Bialiatski, 60, claim that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s autocratic regime is attempting to suppress him.
Mr. Bialiatski was one of three Nobel Peace Prize laureates in 2022.
After major street protests amid highly disputed elections the previous year, he was arrested in 2021 and accused of sneaking cash into Belarus to fund opposition activity.
During the demonstrations, which began in 2020, demonstrators were confronted with police brutality, and Lukashenko’s detractors were often arrested and incarcerated.
Mr. Bialiatski appeared in court with two other activists, Valentin Stefanovich, and Vladimir Labkovich.
According to Viasna, the group Mr. Bialiatski formed in 1996, Mr. Stefanovich was sentenced to nine years in prison, while Mr. Labkovich received seven years.
Mr. Bialiatski’s wife, Natalya Pinchuk, said the trial was “clearly against human rights defenders for their human rights work”, describing it as a “cruel” result.
She stated, in reference to her husband’s letters from prison, where he has been imprisoned since his arrest: “Everything is OK, he always writes. He doesn’t complain about his health since he doesn’t want to upset me.”
Kostya Staradubets, a spokesperson for Viasna, said the sentences imposed on the three activists were “breaking our hearts”.
He said: “We knew that our three colleagues would get lengthy prison terms but anyway it’s still a shock, it’s breaking our hearts, not only the [prison] periods are long but the conditions also very horrific.
“We call [the conditions] torture actually because they’re being held for several months in a 19th Century building, poorly lit cells with no fresh air, no sunlight, poor food, little or no healthcare.”
Belarus’s exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said the penalty was “simply appalling”.
“We must do everything to fight against this shameful injustice and free them,” she said.
Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee that awards the Nobel Peace Prize, said the verdict was a “tragedy” for Mr. Bialiatski and described the charges as “politically motivated”.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell decried what he termed “sham trials”, adding they were “another horrific example of the Lukashenko government trying to suppress individuals who stand up in defense of human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people in Belarus”.
According to Viasna, there are now 1,458 political prisoners in Belarus. According to authorities, there are none.
Ms. Reiss-Anderson stated that the Belarusian government had “for years tried to silence him” in giving Mr. Bialiatski the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell decried what he termed “sham trials”, adding they were “another horrific example of the Lukashenko government trying to suppress individuals who stand up in defense of human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people in Belarus”.
According to Viasna, there are now 1,458 political prisoners in Belarus. According to authorities, there are none.
Ms. Reiss-Anderson stated that the Belarusian government had “for years tried to silence him” in giving Mr Bialiatski the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022.
“He has been harassed, arrested, and jailed, and he has been denied a job,” she stated.
Mr. Bialiatski is a veteran of the Belarusian human rights struggle, having founded Viasna in 1996 in response to the harsh repression.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell condemned
“He has been harassed, he has been arrested and jailed, and he has been deprived of employment,” she said.
Mr. Bialiatski is a veteran of the Belarusian human rights movement, having founded Viasna in 1996 in response to Mr Lukashenko’s savage assault on street rallies that year. Mr. Lukashenko has been president of Belarus since the office was formed in 1994.
He was sentenced to three years in prison in 2011 after being convicted of tax evasion, which he denied.
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