BREAKBREAK,
Bialiatski and three top figures of the human rights center he founded have been convicted of financing anti-government protests.
A Belarusian court has sentenced Ales Bialiatski, the leading human rights advocate in Belarus and one of the winners of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, to 10 years in prison.
Bialiatski and three other top figures from the Viasna Human Rights Center he founded were convicted of financing anti-government protests.
They were arrested and jailed after massive protests over a 2020 election that gave President Alexander Lukashenko another term in office. Lukashenko – in office since 1994 – has suppressed opposition and cracked down on independent news media.
The charges against Bialiatski and his colleagues related to Viasna’s providing money to political prisoners and helping pay their legal fees.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the leader of the Belarusian opposition movement, denounced the “shameful injustice” of the Bialiatski trial.
This is an evolving news item. More to follow…
