EN 
NL 
Human rights defender Ales Bialiatski is one of three winners of this year's Nobel Peace Prize. But since he has been imprisoned in Belarus since July 2021, others will have to accept his prize on his behalf. On 25 November, the day he was detained for 500 days, association of Belarusians in the Netherlands MARA and human rights organisation Libereco organised a demonstration in front of the Belarusian embassy in The Hague for the release of Ales Bialiatski and all political prisoners in Belarus.
With its organisation Viasna Bialiatski has been fighting for respect for human rights in Belarus and for the release of political prisoners since 1996. Since the rigged August 2020 elections, the organisation has been working overtime to continue its work as human rights defenders amid tens of thousands of arrests, political sentences and torture of people standing up for their rights. Six members of Viasna are now arrested himself. Some of them have already been sentenced to prison terms of between three and 15 years. Ales Bialiatski's sentence is still pending, but he could face up to 12 years in prison.
This month passed Viasna's list of recognised political prisoners in Belarus the unimaginable number 1400. Therefore, on the 500th day of Ales Bialiatski's imprisonment, MARA and Libereco, with support from the Netherlands Helsinki Committee and Amnesty International, demonstrated for the release of all these political prisoners: human rights defenders like Ales Bialiatski, political activists like Maryia Kalesnikava, trade union activists like Aliaksandr Yarashuk, journalists like Lyudmila Chekina, and many others.
Several speakers at the demonstration reminded attendees that this is not Ales' first prison sentence he is serving in a Belarusian prison. Ales was already serving a prison sentence for his human rights activism between 2011 and 2014. Whereas many leave the country after a prison sentence, Ales stayed, even after the rigged 2020 presidential elections and when repression continued to intensify during 2021. In the summer of 2021, he was arrested again.
During the demonstration, Valeriya Krasovskaya told those present how Ales Bialiatski and his organisation had assisted her after her father's enforced disappearance in 1999. Without his help, her family would never have been able to gather evidence of the state bodies' involvement in the disappearance in the same way and raise it with international bodies.
His commitment to human rights and the release of political prisoners is what put Ales behind bars. It is also what got him the Nobel Prize. The protesters therefore stood there not only for Ales Bialiatski's freedom, but for all political prisoners in Belarus. On behalf of Libereco, I read out the names and histories of the five political prisoners currently detained by Dutch MPs from the Lower House and the European Parliament have been adopted. With a rapidly growing list of political prisoners, more adoptions by parliamentarians are desperately needed. Against more than 1,400 political prisoners, there are currently just over 300 European adoptions.
On behalf of the Max van der Stoel Foundation (FMS), which has been working with Belarusian organisations for 20 years, Mathieu Neelen explained how it has become increasingly difficult to be active in Belarus because of Lukashenko's repressive policies. Many organisations the FMS works with have fled to neighbouring countries, have been forced to quit or their employees are in prison. Mathieu also thanked those present for their courage and called on everyone who has affinity and solidarity with Belarus to continue working for democratisation and freedom.
Libereco has a successful petition walk for the release of Ales Bialiatski and all political prisoners in Belarus and was also recently granted a English-language petition launched.
On 10 December, the Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded to the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties, the Russian human rights group Memorial, and Ales Bialiatski, but not to him personally. Those who still want to give him a helping hand can send a card - or in the spirit of Ales, to any of the other 1400+ political prisoners in Belarus.
Written by Christie Miedema (Libereco)
