Belarusian human rights activist and Nobel Prize winner Ales Bialiatski sentenced to 10 years in prison
A court in Minsk has sentenced the chairman of the Belarusian human rights center Viasna, Ales Bialiatski, to 10 years in a strict regime colony. This news was reported by Viasna itself.
Bialiatski and other defendants in the case – deputy chairman of Viasna Valentin Stefanovich, Viasna lawyer and coordinator of the campaign “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” Vladimir Labkovich, human rights activist Dmitry Solovyov – were all found guilty of cash smuggling and financing protests.
Stefanovich received nine years in a strict regime colony, while Labkovich received seven years in a strict regime colony. Solovyov was convicted in absentia and sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment.
Bialiatski, Stefanovich, and Labkovich were arrested in July 2021. They were first charged with tax evasion, but the case was later dropped, and the human rights activists were charged again. According to the investigation, in 2016-2021 they transported at least €201 thousand and $54 thousand from Lithuania to Belarus, as well as financing protests in Belarus in 2020-2021. In particular, financing refers to the payment of fines, the work of lawyers, and providing food in detention centers for those detained because of the protests.
The human rights activists pleaded not guilty. The prosecution asked for them to serve nine to 12 years in jail.
In 2011, Ales Bialiatski was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for tax evasion. The investigation considered the money that “Viasna” spent on helping people to be Bialiatski’s personal income, from which he did not pay taxes. Bialiatski was released in 2014.
In October 2022, Ales Bialiatski, together with the Russian human rights organization Memorial and the Ukrainian organization Center for Civil Liberties, received the Nobel Peace Prize.
Viasna is the largest human rights organization in Belarus. After the elections and the 2020 protests, Viasna documented violations by the security forces. The also helped detainees and torture victims. The organization follows political cases in one way or another related to 2020, which are still ongoing in Belarus.