UN experts urge Belarus to free Nobel winner Bialiatski from prison

19/7/2024 16:30

        Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, who is serving a 10-year prison sentence in Belarus, was detained and tried illegally and should be released immediately, a group of experts mandated by the United Nations says.
        
        Bialiatski founded the rights group Viasna and is now one of about 1,400 political prisoners who the organisation says are being held by the administration of President Alexander Lukashenko.
        
        The statement from the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention follows an open letter signed by 63 Nobel prize winners urging Lukashenko to free more political prisoners, after Viasna said 18 were released at the start of this month.
        
        The U.N. group said Bialiatski's detention was "arbitrary" as he had been exercising his right to freedom of expression and assembly and been "deprived of effective legal representation".