Nobel laureate Ales Bialiatski tells AP of Belarus prison ordeal in first interview after release

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VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski arrived for an interrogation with The Associated Press connected Sunday successful the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, nonstop from a dentist appointment.

The 63-year-old seasoned quality rights advocator was experiencing a instrumentality to regular beingness aft much than 4 years down bars successful Belarus. He was abruptly released connected Saturday.

Medical assistance successful the penal colony wherever helium served his 10-year condemnation was precise limited, helium said successful his archetypal sit-down interrogation aft release. There was lone 1 enactment of treating dental problems down bars — pulling teeth out, helium said.

Bialiatski recalled however successful the aboriginal hours of Saturday helium was successful an overcrowded situation compartment successful the Penal Colony no. 9 successful eastbound Belarus erstwhile abruptly helium was ordered to battalion his things. Blindfolded, helium was driven somewhere: “They enactment a blindfold implicit my eyes. I was looking occasionally wherever we were headed, but lone understood that we’re heading towards west.”

In Vilnius, helium hugged his woman for the archetypal clip successful years.

“When I crossed the border, it was arsenic if I emerged from the bottommost of the oversea and onto the aboveground of the water. You person tons of air, sun, and backmost determination you were successful a wholly antithetic concern — nether pressure,” helium told the AP.

Bialiatski was 1 of 123 prisoners released by Belarus successful speech for the U.S. lifting sanctions imposed connected the Belarusian potash sector, important for the country’s economy.

A adjacent state of Russia, Belarus has faced Western isolation and sanctions for years. Its authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has ruled the federation of 9.5 cardinal with an robust fist for much than 3 decades, and the state has been repeatedly sanctioned by the West for its crackdown connected quality rights and for allowing Moscow to usage its territory successful the 2022 penetration of Ukraine.

In an effort astatine a rapprochement with the West, Belarus has released hundreds of prisoners since July 2024.

Bialiatski won the Nobel Peace Prize successful 2022 on with the salient Russian rights radical Memorial and Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties. Awarded the prize portion successful jailhouse awaiting trial, helium was aboriginal convicted of smuggling and financing actions that violated the nationalist bid — charges wide denounced arsenic politically motivated — and sentenced to 10 years successful prison.

The seasoned advocate, who founded Belarus’ oldest and astir salient quality rights group, Viasna, was imprisoned astatine a penal colony successful Gorki successful a installation notorious for beatings and hard labor.

He told AP that helium wasn’t ever beaten during much than 4 years down bars — his presumption arsenic a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, perhaps, protected him from carnal violence, helium said.

But helium said helium went done overmuch of what each governmental prisoners successful Belarus spell through: solitary confinement, arbitrary punishment for insignificant infractions, not being capable to spot your loved ones, seldom being capable to person letters.

“We tin decidedly speech astir inhumane treatment, astir creating conditions that interruption your integrity and immoderate benignant of quality dignity,” helium said.

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