Members of Poland’s Seim are going to nominate imprisoned Belarusian human rights defender Ales Bialiatski for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize.
160 Polish MPs have signed a petition for the nomination of Mr Bialiatski for the award, Adam Lipinski, who initiated the signature-collection campaign, told Gazeta Wyborcza.
Just like Polish independent trade union Solidarity won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 through its co-founder, Lech Walesa, human rights defenders in Belarus should be awarded the prize through Ales Bialiatski, Mr Lipinski said.
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In November, 2011 Ales Bialiatski, Vice-President of the International Federation for Human Rights, was sentenced to 4.5 years of imprisonment in a medium security penal colony and seizure of property for alleged tax evasion. The fact of his holding bank accounts in Poland and Lithuania gave the grounds for criminal prosecution. The cash standing to the credit of accounts was used for human rights defence activity: the centre financially supported the people affected by Lukashenka’s regime. In court Bialiatski stated that he had no other possibility of getting financial aid from foreign backers.
