Ales Bialiatski nominated for Nobel Peace Prize again
This is the first time our compatriot
is put on the list of candidates for the prestigious prize for great
services before humanity. Among other candidates there are also
15-year old Pakistani girl, Malala Yousafzai and the Russian human
rights defender Liudmila Aliakseyeva.
The deadline for the
nominations for the Nobel Committee is 1 February. The full list of
candidate is kept secret and can be published only in 50 years. The
number of candidates can exceed 200 people, as it happened last year.
However, three names are known already. Two Norwegian MPs
have nominated the head of the Moscow Helsinki Group Ludmila
Alekseyeva and the Belarusian human rights defender Ales
Bialiatski.
"The both of them challenged the
authoritarian state institutions and unlawful abuses of power",
said one of the MPs, January Saner.
Mr. Bialiatski has been
sentenced to 4.5 years of imprisonment for alleged large-scale tax
evasion. In fact, the money in question were raised for support to
victims of repressions. He also coordinated election monitoring
campaigns.
Mr. Bialiatski is kept in the Babruisk colony. The
Belarusian secret services continue the campaign of denigration
against him and his colleagues. Nevertheless, it doesn't seem to
mislead the people.
