Alex Bialiatski

Ales Viktaravich Bialiatski (born 25 September 1962) is a Belarusian pro-democracy activist and prisoner of conscience known for his work with the Viasna Human Rights Centre. An activist for Belarusian independence and democracy since the early 1980s, Bialiatski is a founding member of Viasna and the Belarusian Popular Front, serving as leader of the latter from 1996 to 1999. He is also a member of the Coordination Council of the Belarusian opposition. He has been called "a pillar of the human rights movement in Eastern Europe" by The New York Times, and recognised as a prominent pro-democracy activist in Belarus.

Bialiatski's defence of human rights in Belarus has brought him numerous international accolades. In 2020, he won the Right Livelihood Award, widely known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize". In 2022, Bialiatski was awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, along with the organisations Memorial and Centre for Civil Liberties.

Bialiatski has been imprisoned twice; firstly from 2011 to 2014, and currently since 2021, on both occasions on charges of tax evasion. Bialiatski, as well as other human rights activists, have called the charges politically motivated.

In the Soviet Union

In early 1980s, Bialiatski became involved in a number of pro-democracy initiatives, including a group called Belarusian Clandestine Party “Independence” aiming to foster Belarus's leaving the Soviet Union and forming a sovereign and democratic country. The group published an illegal outlet called “Burachok” and co-organized the first-ever anti-Soviet protests, most notably the Dziady demonstrations in 1987 and 1988, a protest against the construction of the Daugavpils hydro-electric power plant, a rally protesting the demolition of the Upper Town architectural heritage in Minsk, and a memorial ceremony at Kurapaty in 1988. In December 1987, Bialiatski was on the organizing committee of the 1st Assembly of Belarusian Communities.

In 1989, Bialiatski received a PhD from the Belarusian Academy of Sciences. During his doctoral studies, Bialiatski helped found the Tutejshyja Association of Young Writers, serving as the group's chairman from 1986 to 1989, which resulted in harassment from the academy administration. In 1988 Bialiatski co-organized the Martyrology of Belarus. He was also one of the founding members of the Belarusian Popular Front and the Belarusian Catholic Community.

In 1989, Bialiatski worked as a junior researcher at the Museum of the History of Belarusian literature. Later the same year, he was elected director of the Maksim Bahdanovich Literary Museum. Bialiatski left the museum in August 1998, after arranging several key exhibitions, including two in Minsk, one in the Maladziečna District and one in Yaroslavl, Russia.

During Bialiatski's directorship, the museum hosted numerous public events on political, cultural and religious issues. In 1990, the museum building in central Minsk housed the editorial office of “Svaboda”, one of the first pro-democratic newspapers in Belarus. Bialiatski provided the legal address for dozens of NGOs, including the Viasna Human Rights Centre and the Centre “Supolnasts”. He invited several young authors, including Palina Kachatkova, Eduard Akulin, Siarhei Vitushka, and Ales Astrautsou, to work at the museum.

Bialiatski was a member of the Minsk City Council of Deputies between 1991 and 1996. On 20 August 1991, the day after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, he, together with 29 other members of the council, made an open appeal to the people of Minsk “to be faithful to the legally elected authorities and to seek all constitutional means in order to end the activities of the State Emergency Committee”. On 5 September 1991, after the Minsk City Council approved the use of national symbols, Bialiatski brought a white-red-white flag to the Council chamber. The flag was the first to be officially flown on the building of the Minsk City Council.

In Belarus

Bialiatski was Secretary of the Belarusian Popular Front (1996–1999) and deputy chairman of the BPF (1999–2001).

Bialiatski founded the Viasna Human Rights Centre in 1996. The Minsk-based organization which was then called “Viasna-96”, was transformed into a nationwide NGO in June 1999. On 28 October 2003 the Supreme Court of Belarus cancelled the state registration of the Viasna Human Rights Centre for its role in the observation of the 2001 presidential election. Since then, the leading Belarusian human rights organization has been working without registration.

Bialiatski was chairman of the Working Group of the Assembly of Democratic NGOs (2000–2004). In 2007–2016, he was vice president of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).

Bialiatski is a member of the Union of Belarusian Writers (since 1995) and the Belarusian PEN-Centre (since 2009).

During the 2020 Belarusian protests, Bialiatski became a member of the Coordination Council of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

Citation; Wikipedia 2022