#viasna

[uomo-accattivante]

Il materiale di origine: Clooney Foundation for Justice / Today is Human Rights Day, and to help reflect on that, here is a look back at the introduction Oscar Isaac gave to Justice for Democracy Defenders Award-winner Viasna (whose members fearlessly document human rights abuses and defend freedom in Belarus) at the Inaugural Albie Awards this past September.

[acapulcopress]

Por evasión fiscal e incitar el odio y la discordia social encarcelan dos periodistas bielorrusos

MINSK, Bielorrusia * 17 de marzo de 2023. ) Efe El Tribunal de la Ciudad de Minsk condenó este viernes a doce años de prisión a dos periodistas del mayor portal independiente bielorruso, Tut.by, desmantelado por la Justicia,

por distribuir información con llamamientos a tomar el poder estatal y por organizar acciones para incitar el odio y la discordia social. La juez Valyantsina Ziankevich leyó la sentencia tras dos meses de juicio a puerta cerrada contra la ex redactora jefa Marina Zolatova y la ex directora general Liudmila Chekina, informó la organización de derechos humanos Viasna en su cuenta de Telegram. El portal Zerkalo, sucesora de Tut.by y registrado fuera de Bielorrusia, indicó que Zolotova fue hallada culpable de distribuir materiales con llamamientos públicos para la toma del poder estatal y cambiar por la fuerza el orden constitucional. También la condenaron por haber hecho a través del medio de comunicación llamamientos a países extranjeros y organizaciones internacionales para que actúen en detrimento de la

seguridad nacional de Bielorrusia y por promover acciones encaminadas a incitar el odio y la discordia social. Chekina fue condenada por prácticamente los mismos cargos y también por evasión fiscal, según Zerkalo. El 18 de mayo de 2021 se abrió el caso contra Tut.by, muy importante en la difusión de noticias sobre la represión de las protestas masivas contra el presidente bielorruso, Alexandr Lukashenko, tras las elecciones presidenciales de agosto de 2020, en las que el jefe de Estado se atribuyó un sexto mandato en unos comicios calificados de fraudulentos por la oposición y Occidente. Las fuerzas de seguridad llegaron a las casas de algunos empleados del medio y de representantes de organizaciones asociadas, así como a las oficinas de Tut.by en Minsk y centros regionales. Ese día fueron detenidas 15 personas. Marina Zolotova y Liudmila Chekina son las únicas acusadas en el caso que siguen encarceladas y son reconocidas como presas políticas. El KGB bielorruso las incluyó en la lista de "personas involucradas en actividades terroristas". ) Síguenos en nuestra página Facebook @acapulcopress.news Read the full article

[mariacallous]

Courageous people risking their lives for freedom and democracy in Belarus and Ukraine need allies in the West if they are to prevail over tyranny, Tsikhanouskaya said in a speech in Washington.

“Tyranny is contagious. If not contained, it spills over,” she said. “We must reject the very thought that tyrants can be appeased or can be re-educated. Dictators will not stop until we stop them.”

Fresh from meetings at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Tsikhanouskaya said she had heard a lot of talk about the “fatigue” of war, of Russian President Vladimir Putin and of Lukashenka. Complaining about “fatigue” is a luxury unavailable to those on the frontlines, she said.

The tiredness of the conflict in the West is nothing compared to the experience of Ukrainian soldiers in cold trenches, parents whose children have been killed by Russian missiles, Belarusian political prisoners dying in jail, or a 77-year-old woman in Belarus who takes to the streets every day to protest Lukashenka’s regime, she said.

“I heard it so often that, at the end, I felt fatigue of fatigue,” she said. “This fatigue comes from the fact that we don’t know when it will end, when Ukraine wins, when the Lukashenka regime collapses. But sometimes, we can’t know when, and all we should do is bring this moment closer. We must do it because it is right.”

What unites true and dedicated campaigners for freedom is “immunity to fatigue” and “intolerance to dictatorship and injustice,” Tsikhanouskaya, who leads the Belarusian government in exile, told a September 26 awards dinner hosted by the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA.)

“When you fight against tyranny, you have no rights for time outs or personal comfort. The struggle requires sacrifice, consistency, and bravery because any doubts, any hesitations, are seen by dictators as weakness,” she said. “We must continue to exert pressure on dictators, on Lukashenka and Putin, for each crime, for each broken fate, they must pay the price.”

Tsikhanouskaya’s husband, Sergei, was jailed for announcing his intention to stand against Lukashenko in 2020 and was one of 1,323 political prisoners currently being held in Belarus, according to Viasna, a human rights organization.

Those under fire and in jail as they fight for democracy and freedom in Belarus, Ukraine, and around the world need allies more than ever, she said, and appealed directly to the US for support.

“No war, no fight, can be won without allies,” she said. “It needs allies like the United States of America, you are a beacon of hope for many nations. Don’t stop standing for what is right.”

Tsikhanouskaya emphasized that the outcome of the struggle will have ramifications around the world.

“Supporting Ukraine and supporting Belarus is not charity, it’s an investment into peace and security globally,” she said. “The path for freedom might be very long and difficult, but it’s the only path worth walking, so let’s walk this path together.

[beardedmrbean]

Jörg Dornau, a member of the far-right Alternative for Germany party in the Saxony state parliament, has used political prisoners to work on his onion plantation in Belarus, a Belarusian news outlet reported Tuesday.

Dornau inked a deal with a local Center for the Isolation of Offenders to employ Belarusians convicted of political infractions at his Belarus-based agricultural company, OOO Zybulka-Bel, according to independent local outlet Reform.news.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko ramped up political repression and instituted a mass crackdown on dissent, locking up opponents, in the aftermath of a 2020 presidential election widely dismissed as fraudulent.

One of the laborers at Dornau’s farm told the outlet he sorted onions for about €5 per day after being detained in February 2024 for liking a post on social media.

He described difficult working conditions, with breakfast at 7 a.m. and no food or water until the end of the working day at 8 p.m.

“We were brought to a shelter,” he said. “It was a horrible basement, people had all kinds of clothes on, so our hands and feet were freezing.”

The onions, he noted, “were tasty.”

The work was overseen by a foreman who would decide whether the detainee would be paid, he said. The labor was not forced, according to the prisoner, and the earned money was supposed to go toward the maintenance of the detention center.

Dornau, according to the report, made at least one visit to his onion plantation to see his employees in person.

“I’ve even seen him. A tall, bald man,” the prisoner said, with a description that matches Dornau’s physical traits. “He came once in his car with German registration. He came into the shelter where we were picking onions together with hired workers.”

Dornau did not respond to multiple requests for comment by POLITICO on Tuesday.

“The presumption of innocence applies until full legal clarification,” Andreas Harlaß, a spokesperson for the AfD in Saxony, told POLITICO.

He has represented the far-right populist AfD party in the Saxony parliament in eastern Germany since 2019 and has come under scrutiny for his business dealings in Belarus, a Russia-friendly dictatorship ruled with an iron fist by Lukashenko.

Dornau was ordered to pay a fine of €20,862 by the Saxony parliament last month for failing to reveal his involvement in Zybulka-Bel. The company was registered in Belarus in October 2020, even as pro-democracy protests roiled the country.

As of Tuesday, there are more than 1,300 political prisoners in Belarus, according to the Belarusian human rights organization Viasna.

Belarus has been targeted by waves of sanctions by the European Union over the years, most recently in August for ongoing internal repression and human rights violations.

[unhonestlymirror]

"Brutality in prison"

Rufina Bazlova:

"The first three days of the protests were marked by massive arrests and unprecedented levels of state-sponsored violence. The testimonies of those released from jails include accounts of minors and seniors being arrested, overcrowded jail cells, the use of torture, blood-stained floors, and a lack of food, water, and medical aid. Released medical protocols include accounts of rape and organ damage. Testimonies published in the independent Belarusian and russian media report that certain warders imitated nazi concentration camp practices by releasing gas into the jail cells and police transportation vehicles, assigning numbers to prisoners, and marking those due for extra-violent beatings with yellow paint and those who had already been tortured with red. The audio recording leaked by BY_POL (initiative organized by former police who are against Lukashenko's regime) in early January 2021 confirms the regime’s plans to create concentration camps for the protesters. Observers have reported one such camp was built near the town of Ivatsevichy in the Brest region. As of the end of 2020, the Viasna Human Rights Center has documented more than 1000 testimonies of torture victims. Their analysis suggests that acts of torture were widespread, systemic, and well organized as a politically motivated punitive operation perpetrated by the authorities to intimidate the Belarusian public. By December 2020, more than 33,000 people had been arrested since the beginning of the protests. According to Viasna Human Rights Organization, as of today, there are more than 530 persons who are considered political prisoners and remain in jail."

[romanistan]

Romani women meeting their husbands after mass arrests in Mogilev. Photo from Viasna.

[adrl-pt]

Two Years of Woman.Life.Freedom Protests. Four Years of Protests in Belarus. The Russian Orthodox Church Endorses Domestic Violence.

You are watching the news from the weekly rally at the Russian Embassy in Lisbon. Today is September 14, 2:30 PM.

On September 16, 2022, the funeral of Mahsa Amini took place. She had been beaten into a coma by the Iranian morality police because she hadn’t tied her hijab tightly enough. Local residents refused to allow security forces to secretly bury her. BBC Russian Service displayed a photo of her grave with the inscription: "You didn’t die. Your name will be a rallying call!" During the ceremony, women began removing their hijabs in protest and chanting, "Death to the dictator!" https://www.bbc.com/russian/news-62943608

More than 500 protesters were shot in the streets, and many others were injured or arrested. The Center for Human Rights in Iran collected interviews with Iranians. One quote: "The support of Iranians abroad is important. The intimidating atmosphere, the increase in executions, and the lack of support for the Iranian movement from some western countries, have dampened the revolutionary aspirations of some." https://iranhumanrights.org/2024/09/a-quiet-revolution-continues-in-iran-two-years-after-the-woman-life-freedom-uprising/

According to a report by the UK Ministry of Defense on X (formerly Twitter) on September 13, Iran has shipped Fath-360 missiles with a range of up to 120 km to Russia. https://x.com/DefenceHQ/status/1834540004334309860

You might ask: "What about the protest inside Iran?" Just 2 years ago the mullahs regime killed at least nearly 600 iranian people. Iranian people want to live like many people who live in the free world based on human rights. Which of course include women rights and LGBTQ rights as well for instance. Iranians want freedom and democracy. So if you hear from someone that the demand of the Iranian people is just hijab and nothing else that is not true and that is a big lie. Iranian people also do not have any enmity with any nation, including Israel. They strongly disagree with arming Putin's regime, such as delivering weapons, missiles, and drones that Russia uses against the people of Ukraine. Also strongly disagreed with their money being spent to support terrorist groups funded by the Islamic regime. And I also wish for all women in the world to reclaim their freedom, so I would say: "Woman. Life. Freedom". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD8rwC1QxXA

Before the 2020 elections, Lukashenko either arrested or barred opposition candidates from participating. He viewed Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, like all women, as unfit to take his place. The trio of Svetlana, Maria Kolesnikova, and Veronika Tsepkalo became symbols of change. https://www.bbc.com/russian/features-58016427

Lukashenko declared that he had received 80% of the votes. According to independent organizations, 56% of voters supported Tikhanovskaya, and only 34% backed Lukashenko. https://www.dsnews.ua/world/u-bilorusi-doveli-shcho-tihanovska-peremogla-na-viborah-prezidenta-z-3-mln-golosiv-18072021-431485

Protests broke out. Women shielded men and chanted at the police: "No one will give you what you want!" Footage of protest dispersals, beatings, and torture at the Okrestino detention center shocked the world. Putin then stepped in to support his dictator friend. https://www.bbc.com/russian/features-58016427

Although Lukashenko pardoned 30 political prisoners on September 4, the human rights organization Viasna recognized five more political prisoners in August. The health of Maria Kolesnikova, who is serving an 11-year sentence, is of great concern—her weight has dropped to 45 kg. https://www.bbc.com/russian/articles/cvg5jq1mrdro

In February, Meduza reported that human rights activists from SK SOS stated that Seda Suleimanova, who fled from her relatives after refusing to marry, was returned to Chechnya by the police and may have already been killed. https://meduza.io/news/2024/02/07/pravozaschitniki-zayavili-chto-sbezhavshuyu-iz-chechni-devushku-mogli-ubit-rodstvenniki

The online media outlet "Caucasian Knot" reported on so-called "honor killings" committed by relatives of women in the Caucasus. Reasons for such killings include premarital sex or simply complaints about a husband who beats his wife or children. https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/345826/

In June, Verstka reported that the Kremlin promised the Russian Orthodox Church not to pass a law against domestic violence. The Russian Orthodox Church believes such a law would "undermine the foundation of the traditional family." https://verstka.media/rpc-i-zakon-o-domashnem-nasilii

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Original video in Russian: https://youtu.be/-aZf7Lx5fAw

Help with money to Mariam Lambert to return stolen Ukrainian children from Russia and occupied territories of Ukraine. The link for direct donations to the fund they made especially for our association: https://www.every.org/orphans-feeding-foundation/f/help-us-return-the-deported Know more about their activities: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmC2EZKkQjM

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[cyberbenb]

Prominent Belarusian artist dies in prison 'under unclear circumstances'

The prominent Belarusian artist Ales Pushkin died in prison in Belarus “under unclear circumstances,” his wife Janina Demuch reported on July 11.

Pushkin was charged by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko’s regime in 2021 with “desecration of state symbols” and “incitement to hatred, according to human rights watchdog Viasna.

At the time, Belarusian prosecutors said that the reason behind this was his painting of Jaŭhien Žychar, a member of the Belarusian anti-Soviet resistance, shown at an exhibition in the city of Hrodna. Authorities claimed that the painting “rehabilitated and justified Nazism."

Pushkin was in Ukraine for another exhibition when he found out about the charges but did not cancel his return flight home. He was arrested the next day.

“I remember how terrified I was that night when he went on a flight from Kyiv to Minsk in March 2021,” the poet Julia Cimafiejeva wrote, calling his death “a great loss for Belarusian culture and art."

Pushkin’s trial began on March 10, 2022. The court found him “guilty” on March 30, 2022, and sentenced him to five years imprisonment in a penal colony.

While the verdict was being read, Pushkin loudly protested and undressed to reveal a self-inflicted wound on his stomach in the shape of a cross, according to Viasna.

Ales Pushkin took part in the mass protests of 2020-2021 that were spurred by Lukashenko fraudulently claiming victory in the presidential election. Authorities began jailing many of the protestors, while others fled into exile.

“Ales was an incredibly talented, provocative, and courageous artist – a good man. And it will stay that way for us. The rest doesn’t matter anymore. He will remain an artist and a person who was killed in prison, killed by this government. He was killed for language, talent, and bravery. For being a Belarusian,” the writer Alhierd Bacharevič said, adding that “this murder cannot be forgiven."

Viasna has established that there are 1,500 political prisoners in Belarus, but some human rights activists believe that the actual number is at least three times higher.

Belarus Weekly: Lukashenko tells Belarusians to ‘calm down’ as Wagner’s move still undecided

Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko urges Belarusians to “calm down” after the presumed arrival of Wagner Group mercenaries following their day-long insurrection in Russia. Rumors continue circulating about whether camps to house Wagner troops are under construction. Lukashenko claims that th…

The Kyiv IndependentMaria Yeryoma

[culturesofresistancefilms]

7/26/23

Support Imprisoned Human Rights Defenders in Belarus!

This month marks two years since the arrest, arbitrary detention, and prosecution of Ales Bialiatski—the esteemed winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize—along with five other members of Viasna, a human rights organization that monitors violations of human rights in Belarus. Their prosecution was the latest in a series of crackdowns on political dissent in the country. These six human rights defenders were falsely charged with "smuggling" and "financing group actions that grossly violated public order." Leading human rights organizations in Belarus and internationally have denounced their persecution and recognized the imprisoned Viasna members as political prisoners.

You can extend a human lifeline to the imprisoned Viasna members by writing them letters to express your solidarity and to give hope in dark times. Our friends at Viasna have launched a letter writing campaign where you can write an open letter and send it directly to imprisoned Visana members. Upload your written letter at the link below:

https://docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLSfhsgpGwDc9ss.../viewform

You can also send your letter to freeviasna@gmail.com and the Viasna team will publish your letter on their website and share it through their social media channels. By amplifying the plight of these human rights activists, we can raise awareness, demonstrate our support, and let the imprisoned Viasna members know that the world is watching!

To learn more about the work of Viasna visit their website at:

https://spring96.org/en

Cultures of Resistance director iara lee has been proud to support Viasna’s efforts. Read more at:

[head-post]

Belarus releases head of banned party

The head of a banned opposition party, who was behind bars for two years, was released as the country freed some political prisoners, according to Belarusian media.

Mikalai Kazlou, who led the United Civic Party, was serving a sentence of two and a half years in prison on charges of organising actions violating public order. His arrest came amid large demonstrations. The protests followed the 2020 presidential election, whose results gave Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term.

Many prominent opposition figures were imprisoned as part of the crackdown, while others fled the country, including Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Lukashenko’s main election rival. The Belarusian Supreme Court banned the United Civic Party a year after Kazlou’s arrest.

In early July, Lukashenko granted amnesty to some seriously ill political prisoners. So far, 19 of them have been released. However, 1,377 remain in prison, according to Viasna. The prisoners include the founder of the group Ales Bialiatski.

Activists claim that the authorities allegedly deprive political prisoners of medical care, transfers, and meetings with lawyers and relatives.

Lukashenko’s release of sick political prisoners indicates that he may be trying to improve relations with the EU and the United States ahead of his re-election next year, Belarusian analysts suggest. He also recently waived visa requirements for European Union citizens arriving by rail and road.

Read more HERE

[thoughtlessarse]

A court in Belarus has sentenced a German medic to death after he was found guilty of charges related to terrorism and mercenary activity, rights activists have said. Rico Krieger, 30, was convicted of six crimes in a closed trial in June, Viasna, one of Belarus' top activist organisations, said in a statement. The group said he now faced execution by firing squad. What prompted the charges remains unclear, and the country's state news agency carried no further details about the allegations in its report. Belarus is the last country in Europe where the death penalty is still carried out. It says it reserves the sentence for serious crimes, including treason. Viasna said that Mr Krieger's alleged crimes included mercenary work, espionage, terrorism, creating an extremist group, illegal operations with firearms and explosives. It said it marked the first time someone had been tried in Belarus for mercenary activity. The group, based in the Belarusian capital Minsk, said that Mr Krieger, who was working as a medic for the German Red Cross, had been in custody since November 2023. Parts of the trial were carried out behind closed doors and Viasna added that it was unsure whether Mr Krieger has appealed against the verdict, or whether it has gone into effect.

continue reading

[warningsine]

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/belarus-frees-10-political-prisoners-1400-remain-rights-group-says-2024-07-04/

July 4 (Reuters) - Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has freed at least 10 political prisoners, rights campaigners said on Thursday, including a veteran opposition figure suffering from cancer.

But the rare pardon still leaves some 1,400 people behind bars for political activity, most of them arrested after peaceful mass protests in 2020 and convicted on a range of charges related to alleged extremism.

Human rights group Viasna said it knew of three women and seven men who had been freed.

The only one named so far by relatives is Ryhor Kastusiou, 67, a former opposition party leader and presidential candidate. He was arrested in 2021 and sentenced the following year to 10 years in a penal colony after being convicted of plotting against the government to seize power. Following his arrest, he was diagnosed with cancer.

Activists said their happiness at the releases was bitter-sweet.

"This is a very great joy, of course, almost childlike. But it is joy through tears - there is anger too for what people have to go through," said Inna Kovalenok, a representative of a relatives' group that campaigns for the release of prisoners.

Andrei Stryzhak, head of an organisation called Bysol that raises funds to support political prisoners and their families, said it was a delusion to think the authorities had become more humane.

"To believe that something has suddenly changed in the minds of those who torture, rape and kill for the sake of maintaining power is a dangerous fantasy bordering on treason and crime," he posted on Telegram.

Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, this week announced an amnesty to mark the 80th anniversary of Belarus's liberation from the Nazis in World War Two. State news agency Belta said it was expected to apply to about 7,850 prisoners including minors, pregnant women, pensioners and people suffering from tuberculosis or cancer.

Those convicted of crimes against the state or extremist and terrorist activities were excluded, but Lukashenko signalled there would be some exceptions for those who were seriously ill.

Lukashenko, in power since 1994, staged a violent crackdown in 2020 to suppress mass protests following an election that the opposition and Western governments said he had heavily rigged.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who ran against him in that election and now leads the opposition in exile, welcomed the release of some prisoners but said more were still being detained.

"Political trials & arrests continue without a break in #Belarus," Tsikhanouskaya posted on X. "Repression doesn't stop for a day & we won't stop our fight for freedom."

Tsikhanouskaya's husband Syarhei is among the best known prisoners, along with Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski and Maria Kolesnikova, a protest leader who tore up her passport in September 2020 to thwart the security services from expelling her from the country by forcing her to cross into Ukraine.

[yhwhrulz]

3 human rights activists arrested in Belarus as a crackdown on the opposition persists | Fox News

[mariacallous]

The jailed Belarusian human rights activist Ales Bialiatski, the Russian human rights organisation Memorial and the Ukrainian human rights organisation Center for Civil Liberties have won the 2022 Nobel peace prize, in an award the committee said was to honour champions of “peaceful coexistence” during the most tumultuous period in Europe since the second world war.

“The peace prize laureates represent civil society in their home countries,” said Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel committee. “They have for many years promoted the right to criticise power and protect the fundamental rights of citizens.”

She called on Belarus to release Bialiatski from prison so the veteran activist could attend the award ceremony that will take place on 10 December in Oslo City Hall, when each recipient from the three neighbouring countries will receive 10m Swedish crowns (£804,000).

The committee’s decision will be widely seen as a strong rebuke to Vladimir Putin, who turned 70 on Friday, but Reiss-Andersen said the award was not meant to address the Russian president, a strong ally of the authoritarian Belarusian leader, Alexander Lukashenko.

“This prize is not addressing President Putin, not for his birthday, or in any other sense – except that his government, as the government in Belarus, is representing an authoritarian government that is suppressing human rights activists,” she said.

The committee said it had chosen the three laureates to honour the champions of “human rights, democracy and peaceful coexistence” in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.

Bialiatski, the head of the Belarus rights group Viasna, was detained last July as part of a sweeping crackdown on the opposition by Lukashenko after huge anti-government demonstrations.

He is the fourth person to receive the Nobel peace prize while in prison or detention, after Carl von Ossietzky of Germany in 1935, Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar in 1991 and Liu Xiaobo of China in 2010.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the exiled leader of the Belarusian opposition abroad, congratulated Bialiatski, saying the award was “an important recognition for all Belarusians fighting for freedom & democracy”. “All political prisoners must be released without delay,” she tweeted.

The news was also welcomed in Ukraine, where the Center for Civil Liberties said in a statement it “thanks the international community for their support”, and that the prize was “very important to us”.

The Center for Civil Liberties was established in 2007 and has done extensive work documenting Russian war crimes during the seven month-long conflict in Ukraine.

The third recipient, the Russia Memorial group, was shut down by the Kremlin last year, in what was widely seen as a watershed moment in Putin’s crackdown on independent thought. Memorial was founded in the late 1980s to document political repressions carried out under the Soviet Union, building a database of victims of the Great Terror and gulag camps. At the time of closure, Memorial was the country’s oldest human rights group.

The news that Memorial won the Nobel peace prize came as a court in Moscow was holding a hearing on seizing the group’s assets.

Reiss-Andersen said all three laureates made “an outstanding effort to document war crimes, human rights abuses and the abuse of power”.

Friday’s decision was quickly applauded by human rights activists in the region.

Tanya Lokshina, the Europe and Central Asia associate director at Human Rights Watch, called the decision “a great gesture of solidarity with rights groups besieged by autocrats”.

“Awarding Nobel prize to jailed Belarusian rights defender Ales Bialiatski, Center for Civil Liberties whose team is at the forefront of documenting war crimes in Ukraine, and Russian rights giant Memorial is a great gesture of solidarity with rights groups besieged by autocrats,” she tweeted.

“On Putin’s 70th birthday, the Nobel peace prize is awarded to a Russian human rights group that he shut down, a Ukrainian human rights group that is documenting his war crimes, and a Belarusian human rights activist whom his ally Lukashenko has imprisoned,” tweeted Kenneth Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch.

But there was also criticism in Kyiv on the decision to award the prize to a Belarussian national and the Russian human rights group Memorial, two countries that Ukraine is currently at war with.

“Nobel Committee has an interesting understanding of word ‘peace’ if representatives of two countries that attacked a third one receive,” Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior Ukrainian presidential aide, tweeted.

Asked whether the bestowing of the prize would “increase the risk for suppression and repression” of groups such as Memorial – and harm activists – Reiss-Andersen said: “This is a dilemma the Nobel committee often faces and it is something we always consider and take into consideration very seriously. But we also have the point of view that the individuals behind these organisations, they have chosen to take a risk and pay a high price and show courage to fight for what they believe in.

“We are of course particularly concerned about Mr Bialiatski, who is detained under very hard conditions in a prison … and we do pray that this prize will not affect him negatively. But we hope it might boost his morale.”

[beardedmrbean]

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — European diplomats in Belarus have condemned the trial of a Catholic activist in Minsk as “unfair” and “politically motivated.”

Uladzislau Beladzed's trial began behind closed doors at Minsk City Court on Wednesday.

The 33-year-old Beladzed, who taught the catechism at the city’s Cathedral of the Holy Name of the Saint Virgin Mary, stands accused under four articles of Belarus’ criminal code, including “insulting the president” and “inciting social discord.”

If found guilty, he faces up to five years of imprisonment.

Beladzed was an active participant in pro-opposition protests in Belarus in 2020, and was detained by police at rallies on several occasions. He went on to support the country’s movement for free elections, and, after the start of Russia's war in Ukraine, he publicly prayed for peace.

His case, which has dealt another crippling blow to Belarus’ beleaguered civil society, has provoked sharp criticism from Western diplomats.

European diplomats stood outside the courthouse where the trial was held on Wednesday, demanding an end to political repression in Belarus, and Beladzed’s release.

“The accusations brought against (Beladzed) are unfair. They are politically motivated. A representative of the German Embassy in Minsk, as well as representatives of other diplomatic missions, went to the courthouse today to express solidarity,” the German Embassy in Minsk said in a statement. “The German government demands the release of all political prisoners in Belarus.”

There are 1,421 political prisoners behind bars in Belarus, according to human rights group Viasna, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski.

Belarus was rocked by mass protests following the contentious reelection of President Alexander Lukashenko in August 2020 in an election that both the country’s opposition and the West condemned as rigged. The demonstrations saw Belarusian authorities detain more than 35,000 people, many of whom were tortured during detention and forced to flee the country after being labeled by officials as “extremists.”

During the protests, some Catholic and Protestant churches provided shelter and support to demonstrators.

About 80% of Belarus’ population of 9.5 million are Orthodox Christians. Around 14% are Catholics, living mainly in the country’s western, northern, and central regions, while a further 2% belong to Protestant churches.

Viasna previously reported that Beladzed has “serious health problems.” He was detained by police during a search of a church on May 31, and has since spent nine months behind bars.

Beladzed was also forced to film a video from his prison cell in which he said he was gay, “under obvious coercion,” Viasna said.

“Uladzislau looks like a person who has been subjected to torture and inhumane treatment,” Viasna said in a statement. “But he retains moral strength.”

[unhonestlymirror]

The trial of the criminal case of two-time Belaruthian taekwondo champion, writer and surgeon Aliona Ceraškova begins in the court of the Central District of Mensk. The woman is accused of participating in the protest action in 2020 (Part 1, Art. 342 of the Criminal Code), writes "Viasna".

Judge Юляна Щерба will consider the case.

It is known that Aliona is the mother of four children and the sister of activist and political prisoner Maksim Viniarskij, sentenced to 5 years in prison.