Czech PM condemns sentencing of Belarusian Nobel Prize winner

Prime Minister Petr Fiala has condemned the sentencing of Ales Bialatski, the Belarusian Nobel Prize-winning human rights defender, to ten years in prison and called on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to release political prisoners in his country.

A Belarusian court sentenced the 60-year-old activist on Friday after finding him guilty of smuggling and financing activities that violated public order.

Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský described the sentencing of Bialatski and other human rights activists in Belarus as “the height of cynicism” and another act of injustice of Lukashenko’s regime.