The court found Bialiatski guilty of financing a protest that was against the government with three others from the Viasna human rights centre he established.
Ales Bialiatski, the Nobel Peace Prize winner of 2022, was sentenced to imprisonment for 10 years in a jail in Minsk. The judgement about the top human rights advocate of Belarus was made on Friday for funding protests and further offenses. The court found Bialiatski guilty of financing a protest that was against the government with three others from the Viasna human rights centre he established.
Followed by their arrest for protesting over the elections of 2020, President Alexander Lukashenko attained a fresh tenure in office. Being the only and longest President of Belarus, he clamped down on the competing parties and restrained independent media platforms. When the country witnessed a huge public objection in 2020, the government took necessary actions to put an end to it. The instance led to the arrest of over 35,000 citizens.
The law court convicted Bialiatski and others for providing money to the prisoners and supporting them with the payment of their legal fees. The Russian human rights organization Memorial and the Ukrainian human rights organization centre felicitated him in October in Oslo.
Who is Ales Bialiatski?
Ales Bialiatski played a major role in bringing democracy and human rights in Belarus into practice from the 1980s. He is known for his service in Eastern Europe.
Following the protests and arrests related to the acquisition of aristocratic power by President Alexander Lukashenko, Bialiatski started an organization to hold up the prisoners and their families. The group eventually turned out to be a human rights organization for political prisoners.
When his efforts began reflecting in the society, the authorities got alarmed and decided to bring him down by arresting him in 2011, coercing tax evasion charges on him. After leaving him free in 2014, in 2020 they again jailed him after a protest against the President’s dictatorship without even a trial.
His arrests
Between 2011 and 2014, he was arrested based on the allegation that he was involved in tax evasion which aided him to provide monetary support for Viasna.
In 2021, he was arrested after an enormous demonstration opposing the manipulated elections that offered Lukashenko the office of President again.
The trial
Ales Bialiatski with two others were charged with smuggling as an organization in January. They were also blamed for aiding violent practices by providing funds. The trial received a lot of censure from the public. NGOs said that it was an obvious move by the government to take revenge against Bialiatski.
The court gave him imprisonment for 10 years. The other two were sentenced to be jailed for 7 and 9 years with a fine of almost 300,000 US dollars.
Responses
The trial collected a lot of criticism and gave rise to many conflicts. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the opposition leader of Belarus, called the verdict unfair and shocking.
A statement was released by 23 human rights organizations demanding the liberation of the prisoners. It was signed by associations like EPSE, Amnesty International etc.