Human rights activist released in Belarus

The Danish Institute for Human Rights expresses its sincere contentment with the release of our friend and colleague, one of the leading human rights defenders in the world, head of the Belarusian Human Rights Centre “Viasna”, Ales Beliatsky.

His imprisonment in 2011 has raised deep concern with human rights defenders and the international community, as the charges of tax evasion, brought against him were directly related to his fundraising activities with the aim to provide assistance to the victims of human rights violations.

For over 30 years, Mr. Beliatsky has been striving to promote democracy and human rights in Belarus and abroad. His contribution is highly acknowledged by the international human rights community and he has been awarded a number of European and international human rights and democracy awards. Among other in 2011 Ales Beliatsky was awarded “The Freedom prize" from Danish newspaper Politiken for his contribution to the cause of human rights and democracy. Ales has been nominated to the Nobel Peace Prize on several occasions.

We admire his work and dedication to the cause of human rights and democracy and we sincerely congratulate Ales’ family and colleagues with his release.