“Good evening,
Dear excellencies,
Dear friends,
Honorable Berit Lindeman,
Let me start by congratulating Ales Bialiatski, Memorial and Center for Civil Liberties. I could not imagine a better decision by The Nobel Committee.
Why? Because Human Rights defenders – are our guardian angels. Guardian angels of all those who fight for freedom and justice. They save lives, they protect people, and they keep tyrants in fear.
The condition of Human rights defenders is also a barometer of freedom. When they thrive, it means society and democracy are healthy. When human rights defenders are in prison, it's time to raise the alarm.
When you live under a dictatorship, you need confidence that if something happens to you, someone will take care of you and your family and ensure that you will not be forgotten.
For many Belarusians, Ales Bialiatski and Viasna have become strong shoulders to lean on. Every journalist, every activist had Ales’ number, and if something went wrong, like the KGB came to you, you could always call on him. And Ales, calmly and confidently explained, what you should do and do not next.
Ales Bialiatski is our hero. I will never forget, when my husband was detained and sentenced to 18 years, it was Viasna and Ales, who tirelessly helped me to find a lawyer, and establish contact with Siarhei. I knew that there were thousands of others in prison, but Viasna never denied help to anyone.
Ales Bialiatski could have left Belarus many times, and he knew that he could be detained. A few weeks before that actually happened, I asked him about that. He smiled and said: “Someone must stay on the ground.” He chose to help people even when he knew about the forthcoming imprisonment.
On that day, I also asked Ales, how can we release political prisoners. With the same smile, he answered: “Only drawing attention to them, the attention of the entire world, will release them”.
Let’s put his words into action. Nobel Peace Prize gives us a great chance to draw attention to Ales’ case and to release thousands of political prisoners.
Nobel Peace Prize also gives us an opportunity to draw attention to atrocities committed by Putin’s regime, in Ukraine and Russia.
Let’s not allow darkness to prevail. Let’s show that every crime will be accounted, and justice will be restored.
Let’s be an example for others, how to stand for values and principles.
In the end, let me congratulate all the laureates again, and good luck to all of us!”
