Belarusian Nobel winner sentenced to 10 years

A Belarusian court on Friday sentenced Ales Bialiatski, Belarus’ top human rights advocate and one of the winners of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, to 10 years in prison. Bialiatski and three other top figures of the Viasna human rights center he founded were convicted of financing actions violating public order and smuggling, Viasna reported Friday.

Valiantsin Stefanovich was given a nine-year sentence; Uladzimir Labkovicz seven years; and Dzmitry Salauyou was sentenced to eight years in prison in absentia. Bialiatski and two of his associates were arrested and jailed after massive protests over a 2020 election that gave authoritarian Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko a new term in office.