Activists’ Nobel prize

THIS year’s Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to jailed Belarus human rights activist Ales Bialiatski, the Russian group Memorial and the Ukrainian organisation Centre for Civil Liberties.

Berit Reiss-andersen, chairwoman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said the judges wanted to honour “outstanding champions of human rights, democracy and peaceful co-existence in the neighbour countries Belarus, Russia and Ukraine”.

She told reporters in Oslo: “Through their consistent efforts in favour of human values and anti-militarism and principles of law, this year’s laureates have revitalised and honoured Alfred Nobel’s vision of peace and fraternity between nations, a vision most needed in the world today.”

Mr Bialiatski was one of the leaders of the democracy movement in Belarus in the mid-1980s and has continued to campaign for human rights and civil liberties in the authoritarian country.

He was detained following antigovernment protests in 2020 and remains in jail without trial.

“Despite tremendous personal hardship, Mr Bialiatski has not yielded one inch in his fight for human rights and democracy in Belarus,” Ms Reiss-andersen said.

She said the Nobel Committee was aware of the possibility that by awarding him the prize Mr Bialiatski might face additional scrutiny from authorities in Belarus.

“We do pray this will not affect him negatively but we hope it might boost his morale”, she said.

Memorial was founded in the Soviet Union in 1987 to ensure the victims of communist repression would be remembered. It has continued to compile information on human rights abuses in Russia and tracked the fate of political prisoners in the country.

“The organisation has also been standing at the forefront of efforts to combat militarism and promote human rights and government based on the rule of law,” said Ms Reiss-andersen.

Asked whether the Nobel Committee was intentionally sending a signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who turned 70 on Friday, Ms Reiss-andersen said that “we always give a prize for something and to somebody and not against anyone”.

The Centre for Civil Liberties was founded in 2007 to promote human rights and democracy in Ukraine.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the group has documented Russian war crimes against civilians.