TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Belarusian man opened the trial Thursday of jailed human rights activist Ales Bialiatski, one of the winners of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize.
Bialiatski and two other figures from the Viasna human rights center he founded face up to 12 years if convicted of funding anti-government protests.
They were arrested after large protests in the 2020 election that gave authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko a new term. Lukashenko, in force since 1994, has cracked down on the opposition and independent media.
The 2020 protests persisted for several months, the largest wave of protests in Belarus, and the government cracked down. More than 35,000 people were arrested and thousands were beaten by police.
The fees in the trial relate to the provision of Viasna to political prisoners and assistance in the payment of their legal fees.
“This is an impeachment trial for a Nobel laureate, which has nothing to do with the law,” Viasna’s lawyer, Pavel Sapelko, told The Associated Press.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric asked about Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ reaction to the trial, saying: “This is a very worrying progression and an example of the shrinking area we see in so many countries for activists and human rights defenders. “
Bialiatski was unable to attend the Nobel Prize rite in December; His wife gave him a copy in his name. He shared the peace prize with the Russian human rights organization Memorial and the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties.
Lukashenko cracked down this week by signing a law allowing the government to deprive conflicting political parties of citizenship.
The law, which comes into force six months after its official publication, targets citizens convicted of “extremist activities” living outside the country. This will deprive thousands of Belarusians who have fled abroad of their citizenship, adding that opposition leader Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya opposed it. to whom a case of thieves has been opened in Belarus.
As the crackdown on dissent continues, the Minsk government’s cooperation with Russia has raised fears of more direct involvement in neighboring Ukraine.
Belarus’ Defense Ministry said Thursday that Russia is moving personnel, weapons, army and special apparatus to Belarus to a joint military group.
“New combat coordination activities are planned with the ensembles arriving on the grounds of Belarus,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Belarus provided Russia with a launching pad for its invasion of Ukraine last February. Russia is Belarusian territory to launch rocket attacks on Ukraine.
The Belarusian Defense Ministry said joint tactical flight training with the Russian Aerospace Forces is planned for this month.
Russia and Belarus have announced a plan to make Belarusian aircraft capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Lukashenko said Belarusian crews were educated with Russia to fly those planes.
In late December, the Belarusian Defense Ministry announced that Russia had deployed 10,200 Russian troops to the country.