HomeUnited NationsBelarus: Trial of Nobel laureate Ales Bialiatski ‘politically motivated’

Belarus: Trial of Nobel laureate Ales Bialiatski ‘politically motivated’

In previous appeals for the release of Mr. Bialiatski, senior legal rights experts who report to the Human Legal rights Council described his arrest as “part of an unfolding policy to silence human rights defenders and eradicate the social space in Belarus”. “Suffice to state that we consider these to be arbitrary busts – constitute arbitrary detention – and the charges are merely politically motivated , ” he added.

Release attractiveness

The attractiveness from the UN rights office comes amid increasing concerns about tightening legislation within Belarus that restricts civil and political rights, that followed violent crackdowns against hundreds of thousands of protesters who else contested the result of presidential elections in August 2020.       In response, thousands and thousands of Belarusians have apparently left the country in the last two years, while “an unprecedented amount are fleeing persecution and prospects for a safe return under the current leadership grow bleaker”, said Anaïs Marin, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human being rights in Belarus , in an alert last year. © Bladyniec

Strong defence

Mister. Bialiatski, a veteran rights campaigner and founder of Viasna (or “spring”) civil community group, was arrested within July 2021 on tax evasion charges, along with two other activists, and reportedly held in dreadful situations in a prison in Minsk. Their trial began upon Thursday. “ We are gravely concerned by the test of Nobel Peace Reward laureate Ales Bialiatski which usually started in Belarus on Thursday night. Bialiatski faces up to 12 years in jail, ” said BÜRO DES HOCHKOMMISSARS DER VEREINTEN NATIONEN FÜR MENSCHENRECHTE spokesperson Jeremy Laurence. Talking with journalists in Geneva, Mister. Laurence insisted that the EL rights office was adopting the case closely and remained in “constant engagement” with all the Belarusian authorities. “Two other representatives of his Viasna Individual Rights Center are also dealing with prison sentences. We have serious concerns in regards to the conduct of their trial ”, he added. “We call for the charges towards them to be dropped and their instant release through detention. ”

Ales Bialiatski, prominent Belarusian human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. (file)
Mister. Bialiatski had been carrying out “legitimate human rights work” whenever he was detained, the experts said, before reminding Belarusian authorities of their obligations to uphold human rights and the immediate release of all rights activists detained on politically motivated grounds.

Ales Bialiatski, prominent Belarusian human legal rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. (file)

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