Nobel laureate Ales Bialiatski jailed in Belarus for a decade, decried as ‘tragedy’

Belarussian Nobel Peace Prize winner and human rights activist Ales Bialiatski was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Friday by a court thatfound him guilty of financing protests. The trial was condemned by the European Union as a "sham".

Bialiatski, 60, was awarded the Nobel prize in October. He was bestowed the Nobelfor his work promoting human rights and democracy in Belarus.

In Belarus, President Alexander Lukashenko, widely considered a staunch ally of Russia, has ruled for close to three decades amid widespread accusations ofviolently jailing his opponents or forcing them to flee the country.

Bialiatski, co-founder of theViasna (Spring) human rights group, was observed aslooking sombre, his hands cuffed behind his back, as he and his co-defendants watched proceedings from a courtroom cageat a cramped Minsk court.

Bialiatski was arrested in 2021 along with three others. They werecharged with financing protests and smuggling money.

Belarusian state news agency Belta reported the court had handed down long jail sentences to all the men, including a decade in prison for Bialiatski.

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Bialiatski has denied the charges against him. He has said thatthey were politically motivated.

Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told Reuters that Bialiatski and the three other activists were unfairly convicted. Shedescried the court verdict as "appalling".

"We must do everything to fight against this shameful injustice and free them," she said on Twitter.

The other three men convicted were Valentin Stefanovich, sentenced to nine years, Vladimir Labkovich, who got seven years, and Dmitry Solovyov, who received eight years but was not present in court.

Berit Reiss-Andersen, the Norwegian Nobel Committee head told Reuters on Friday that the court case and verdict against Belarus human rights activist Ales Bialiatski are a tragedy.

“Ales Bialiatski is one of the foremost fighters for democracy, freedom and human rights in Belarus. The court case and the accusations against him are politically motivated,” Berit Reiss-Andersen said in an interview.

“The case, the verdict against him, is a tragedy for him personally. But it also shows that the regime in Belarus does not tolerate freedom of expression and opposition ... We regret that he has to continue his fight by being held in jail,” she said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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