Ales Bialiatski, a prominent human rights advocate and winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison by a Belarusian court. Bialiatski, along with three other top figures from the Viasna Human Rights Centre that he founded, were charged with financing protests and smuggling money. The verdict has been widely criticised, with exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya calling it “appalling” and stating that “we must do everything to fight against this shameful injustice & free them”. Prosecutors had asked for a 12-year sentence for Bialiatski, who denied the charges.
Poland’s Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, denounced the sentencing, calling it “outrageous” and stating that Bialiatski had “never conceded in his fight for human rights and democracy in Belarus”. Berit Reiss-Andersen, leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, described the verdict as a “tragedy” for Bialiatski personally. Franak Viacorka, senior adviser to Tsikhanouskaya, called the sentence “draconian and absolutely inhuman” and suggested that it was a personal revenge by Lukashenko against Bialiatski for his support of Belarusian victims of repression and the Nobel Peace Prize.
Bialiatski is one of hundreds of Belarusians who were jailed during a crackdown on anti-government protests that erupted after longtime leader Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election and continued into 2021. The charges against Bialiatski and his colleagues were connected to Viasna’s provision of money to political prisoners and help towards their legal fees. Viasna has stated that “the allegations against our colleagues are linked to their human rights activity, the Viasna human rights centre’s provision of help to the victims of politically motivated persecution”.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has slammed the charges and proceedings against Bialiatski and his co-defendants as a “farce”, stating that they were being judged “simply for their years-long fight for the rights, dignity and freedom of the people of Belarus”. Bialiatski was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last October for his work on human rights and democracy, sharing it with the Russian rights group Memorial and Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties.
In an interview with Al Jazeera in December, Bialiatski’s wife Natalia Pinchuk spoke about the importance and risks of civil rights defenders’ missions, particularly during the tragic time of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. She highlighted that Bialiatski was not the only one in jail, with thousands of Belarusians unjustly imprisoned for their civic actions and beliefs. Hundreds of thousands have also been forced to flee the country simply because they wanted to live in a democratic state.
The verdict against Bialiatski and his colleagues has been widely criticised as an attack on human rights and democracy. The international community has called for their release and for Belarus to respect the rule of law and basic human rights.