Nobel laureates rail against Putin’s Russia and Lukashenko’s Belarus

The three winners of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize lashed out at President Putin’s Russia and his ally Lukashenko’s Belarus before the ceremony in Oslo.

“My homeland is a prison,” the wife of Ales Byalyazki of the Belarusian human rights group Vyasna said on behalf of her husband, who is in prison. “This award is for all human rights defenders, all civil activists, the tens of thousands of Belarusians who have been beaten, tortured, arrested and imprisoned.”

He was referring to the crackdown on mass protests by Belarusians against dictator Lukashenko in 2020. Ales Byalyazki was unable to speak. He is awaiting trial in which he could receive a 12-year prison sentence. He is accused of tax evasion, but it is widely believed that he was detained for political reasons.

His wife said on behalf of her husband that Putin wants to seize power in all former Soviet republics, including those of the overrun Ukraine. “I know exactly what Ukraine should be for Russia and Putin: a dictatorship dependent on Russia, just like Belarus, where the voice of the oppressed people is ignored and despised.”

Vyasna shares the award with the Russian human rights group Memorial, which specializes in researching human rights violations in the Soviet era, especially under dictator Joseph Stalin. For years, the Memorial has been under increased surveillance by the authorities of modern Russia. Last year, the group was banned because it was said to be a foreign agent, meaning it was controlled by a foreign country.

Memorial’s Jan Ratshinskiy pointed out that the “insane and criminal war against Ukraine” is the result of years of criticism by the Kremlin of history and of Ukrainians’ right to self-determination.

The third winner, the Ukrainian Center for Civil Libertiesrejects a political solution to the war if it means allowing Russia to keep part of the annexed Ukrainian territory.

“Fighting for peace does not mean bowing to the aggressor’s pressure,” said lawyer and spokesperson Oleksandra Matevichyuk. “There is no peace when a country under attack lays down its arms. That is not peace, but occupation.”