Belarus court jails Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski for 10 years

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A court in Belarus on March 3 sentenced 2022 Nobel Peace Prize winner and human rights activist Ales Bialiatski to 10 years in prison for financing protests and other crimes.

An overview of the news

• He has been given this sentence in the case of activities disturbing public order, financing and smuggling.

• A fine of 65 thousand US dollars has also been imposed on 60-year-old Bialiatsky.

• He is co-founder of the Viasna human rights group.

• In October 2022, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on human rights and democracy.

• Along with Bialyatsky, representatives of the Vesna Human Rights Center, Valentin Stefanovich and Vladimir Labkovich, were also sentenced to 9 years and 7 years, respectively.

• Investigation revealed that Ales Bialiatsky and other members received funds from various organizations in Lithuania during April 2016 to July 2021.

• After this these funds were sent outside the Eurasian Economic Union with the help of many people.

• According to the law of Belarus, this is a crime and the maximum punishment for this crime is 12 years.

• Baliatsky, a Belarusian litterateur, school teacher and museum director, has been involved in pro-democracy protests since the 1980s.

• He was an avid supporter of Belarus' independence from the Soviet Union in the early 1980s, organizing anti-Soviet protests across the country.