Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison by a Belarus court.
Bialiatski is the founder of Viasna, a prominent human rights group in Belarus that has provided legal and financial support to protesters, following a wave of unrest in 2020, following disputed election results that returned Belarus strongman President Alexander Lukashenko back into office, a position he has held for over 30 years.
Lukashenko, a frequent ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is often called Europe’s “last dictator.”
Bialiatski has said he is being persecuted for political reasons.
Bialiatski was among the three co-recipients of last year's Nobel Peace Prize, alongside a Russian and Ukrainian human rights group.