The human rights activist was accused of tax evasion, financing actions that violate public order, and smuggling .
On Thursday, February 9, at a trial held behind closed doors in the Leninsky Court of Minsk, the prosecutor requested a lengthy detention for human rights activist Ales Bialiatski, one of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureates.
This is reported by the Associated Press.
The Nobel laureate appeared in court along with three colleagues from the Viasna human rights center he founded. Human rights activists were accused of tax evasion, financing of actions that violate public order, and smuggling.
In particular, we are talking about providing “Spring” money to political prisoners for lawyers and to pay other legal costs.
The prosecutor invited Bialiatski to 12 years in prison. His comrades-in-arms also face severe punishment: Valentin Stefanovich – 11 years old, Dmitry Solovyov – 10 years old, Vladimir Labkovich – 9 years old. All four are to serve their sentences in a penal colony — conditions there are known to be strict.
Each of the four defendants faces a fine of 185,000 Belarusian rubles (about $73,200).
Recall that the trial of Belarusian human rights activists accused of importing significant foreign currency from Lithuania without declaring and financially supporting protesters against Lukashenka began on January 5. The human rights defenders filed a petition with the court to conduct the trial in the Belarusian language, but the judge refused.
