All of Belarus is in prison now – Aleś Bialacki’s Nobel lecture

December 10, BPN. Belarusian human rights defender Aleś Bialacki, winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, was not allowed to convey the text of his speech from prison, his wife Natalla Pinčuk said after receiving the award for her husband.

She shared with the public some of his thoughts, both the latest and those recorded earlier.

“Thousands of people are currently behind bars in Belarus for political reasons, and they are all my brothers and sisters,” she read out Bialacki’s words. “Nothing can stop people’s thirst for freedom. In my homeland, the entirety of Belarus is in a prison. Journalists, political scientists, trade union leaders are in jail, there are many of my acquaintances and friends among them.”

“This award belongs to millions of Belarusian citizens who stood up and took action in the streets and online to defend their civil rights,” Bialacki said.

He also told his wife he feels free behind bars and his ideals have not changed.

Belarusians “demand that those who committed mass crimes be punished,” Pinčuk said quoting her husband. “They demand free elections. Belarus and Belarusian society will never be the same again when they were completely tied hand and foot. People have woken up.”

Bialacki shares the award with human rights organizations Memorial, Russia, and Center for Civil Liberties, Ukraine. He has headed the Viasna Human Rights Center since 1996. Belarusian authorities have persecuted him for his public and human rights activities.

In July 2021, he was arrested on charges of tax evasion and financing riots. Bialacki remains in custody together with his associates Valancin Stefanovič and Uładzimir Łabkovič. Human rights organizations consider them political prisoners.