A Belarusian court sentenced a renowned noble prize winner Ales Bialiatski to 10 years in jail. Bialiatski was one of the three Nobel peace prize winners in 2022. He was accused of smuggling and illegally supporting the activities of the opposition back in 2021. He was arrested amid civil unrest and protests to reject the re-election of Alexander Lukashenko, now president of Belarus.
Lukashenko Critics Arrested
The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko has since then cracked down on his critics to silence them. The exiled opposition leader also expressed grief over the detention of Bialiatski and called his arrest a “shameful injustice”. Natalya Pinchuk, Bialiatski’s wife, said she regularly receives his husband’s letters and he says “everything is fine”.
1,458 Political Prisoners
According to the Belarus-based human rights organization, Viasna, there are currently 1,458 political prisoners in the prisons of Belarus. Alexander Lukashenko has been ruling Belarus since the establishment of Belarus in 1994 and has become the closest ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
