Belarus - February 2023

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Byalyatski and his fellow human rights activists in the organization Viasna, Valyantsin Stefanovich, and Uladzimer Labkovich, were sentenced to 12, 11, and 9 years imprisonment, respectively. They were charged with and convicted of tax-evasion and smuggling by a court in Minsk. The decision has been part of a wave of convictions of human rights activists, journalists, and individual citizens in Belarus. The ruling was roundly condemned by the international community as groundless and politically motivated retribution for Viasna’s human rights work. A fourth activist, Zmitser Salauyou, was sentenced to 8 years in absentia.

Sources: OSCE ODIHR, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty