“This is incredible news! The people of Belarus are proud of Ales Bialiatski, and now the whole world knows that. Now Belarus has one more Nobel laureate who opposes the dictatorship and the war.
I congratulate Ales and his family on this award. I am convinced that it is a very important sign of support to their family. But this award is also a recognition of the contribution of all Belarusian human rights defenders to peace and human rights. So I congratulate everyone who has chosen this as their life's work.
Unfortunately, Ales could not learn about his Nobel Prize award right away, like we did. He will not come to Oslo with his Nobel speech, because Ales Bialiatski, like thousands of Belarusians, is in prison on political grounds. For the second time in his life, he has been recognized as a political prisoner. And this proves that the regime threatens peace and freedom of the Belarusian people.
This is not the first time that a politically imprisoned person receives the Peace Prize. But this is the first time that the whole of Belarus is proud of a Nobel laureate who is in prison. I am convinced that those who took repressive action against Ales and thousands of innocent people will soon be left in the obscure past. And such heroes as Ales Bialiatski will entrenched in history.”
