US Department of State's statement on Second anniversary of Ales Bialiatski's arrest

04.08.2013 Tags: political prisoners, criminal case of Ales Bialiatski

https://spring96.org/en/news/64887 2013 2013-08-04T14:02:44+0300 2013-08-04T14:02:44+0300 1970-01-01T03:00:00+0300 en https://spring96.org/files/images/sources/us_department_logo.jpg The Human Rights Center “Viasna” The Human Rights Center “Viasna” The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

Press Statement
Marie Harf
Deputy Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
August 2, 2013

August 4 marks the second anniversary of the arrest of Ales Bialiatski, Chairman of leading Belarusian human rights organization Viasna and a winner of the Department of State’s 2011 Human Rights Defender Award. Bialiatski provided legal and practical support to victims of political repression and their families, and catalogued human rights violations. He is currently serving a four and a half year prison sentence for his efforts. We honor Bialiatski’s work to protect the weak and uphold the highest standards of human rights despite harassment by Belarusian authorities.

We reiterate our call on the Government of Belarus to immediately release Bialiatski and all political prisoners and restore their civil and political rights. We look forward to a day when enhanced respect for democracy and human rights in Belarus allows us to improve bilateral relations.