Human rights activists call on US to save Nobel Laureate Ales Bialiatski

Belarusian human rights activists have called on the US authorities to take urgent steps to free Nobel Peace Prize laureate and political prisoner Ales Bialiatski. The meeting of "Viasna" human rights activists with US Charge d'Affaires for Belarus Peter Kaufman took place on January 15 at the US diplomatic mission in Vilnius, reports DW. The Belarusian delegation consisted of three persons.

The head of "Viasna", Ales Bialiatski, was arrested in July 2021 and sentenced to 10 years in prison. When the human rights activist was behind bars, he was awarded the Nobel Prize - along with the Russian human rights center "Memorial" and the Ukrainian "Center for Civil Rights".

Bialatski's associates point out that he is one of five Nobel laureates who received the prize while in prison for their lawful actions and selfless struggle for democracy and human rights. Bialatski is now 62 years old. Due to his age and health problems, he has been included in the humanitarian list of the most vulnerable group of political prisoners compiled by Belarusian civil society.

Human rights activists mentioned last year's exchange between the West and Russia, when Russia released political prisoners in exchange for arrested spies. Human rights activist Leanid Sudalenka drew attention to media reports about the preparation of a possible new such exchange between the West and Russia. According to him, Bialiatski should be included in such a hypothetical exchange list. According to Sudalenka, the Belarusian delegation had the impression that the American side had heard its arguments.