Belarus jails Nobel peace prize-winning dissident Ales Bialiatski

Pro-democracy activist sentenced to 10 years as part of Alexander Lukashenko’s purge of opponents

Belarus has sentenced the Nobel peace prize-winning dissident, Ales Bialiatski, to 10 years in prison as part of Alexander Lukashenko’s purge of opponents after the 2020 pro-democracy protests against his rule.

Bialiatski, a pro-democracy activist, is the founder of Viasna, the authoritarian country’s most prominent human rights group. He was detained in July last year and charged with smuggling cash into Belarus to fund his group’s activities, but is widely recognised as being persecuted for his opposition to Lukashenko.