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June 30 – July 6, 2014

Ales Bialiatski in Poland – first time since his release

The situation has not changed
Ales Bialiatski in Poland – first time since his release

SBIO is pleased to invite you to a meeting, held by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights and the Batory Foundation, with Ales Bialiatski – a Belarusian human rights defender and former political prisoner, who was recently released.

The meeting will be moderated by Maria Przełomiec. It will take place on Thursday, 10th July at 10am, at the Batory Foundation (Sapieżyńska 10a, Jerzy Turowicz room).

What does Ales Bialiatski think of Poland, having had to spend 1,052 days in prison due to a bad decision by a Polish prosecutor? Is his unexpected released a further continuation of the ‘one step forward, one step back’ pattern in relations between the E.U. and Russia, or the start of a new policy? What are the reasons for this decision?

Ales Bialiatski was released on June 21st 2014 under an amnesty ‘on the occasion of the 70th anniversary for the liberation of Belarus from the fascist occupiers’. His visit to Poland is the first since he was arrested on August 4th 2011 on charges of fraud. The information which helped to prosecute Ales Bialiatski to 4.5 years in a penal colony and to have his property confiscated was provided to Belarus by a Polish prosecutor and the Lithuanian Department of Justice.

For quarter of a century, Ales Bialiatski was supporting victims of political repression and fighting against human rights violations in Belarus and other countries. In 1996, he founded ‘Viasna’ [‘Spring’], a human rights organization, which he still leads today. Since 2007, he is the Vice Chair in International Federation of Human Rights, which protects human rights worldwide. In 2013 he was the first activist to be awarded the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize, an international award established to honour outstanding civil society human rights activities. His nomination for the prize was supported by 31 organization from Poland, members of the ‘Grupa Zagranica’, and by organizations from Lithuania and Belarus.

The meeting will be held in Belarusian, with simultaneous translation into Polish.

Please confirm your participation: debaty @ batory.org.pl, tel. 22 536 02 00.

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Once a week, in coordination with a group of prominent Belarusian analysts, we provide analytical commentaries on the most topical and relevant issues, including the behind-the-scenes processes occurring in Belarus. These commentaries are available in Belarusian, Russian, and English.
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