NOBEL LAUREATES DEMAND LUKASHENKO END REPRESSION, RELEASE POLITICAL PRISONERS

In a powerful appeal to the self-proclaimed Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, fifty-five Nobel laureates have signed an open letter demanding the release of more political prisoners.

This call comes in the wake of a report by the human rights group Vias­na, which con­firmed the release of 18 pris­on­ers ear­li­er this month.

Among the dis­tin­guished sig­na­to­ries are three Nobel lit­er­a­ture lau­re­ates, includ­ing Belaru­sian writer Svet­lana Alex­ievich, as well as sev­en peace lau­re­ates and 45 win­ners in the fields of sci­ence and eco­nom­ics. Their col­lec­tive mes­sage to Lukashenko is clear: “It is unac­cept­able to sub­ject the peo­ple of your coun­try to severe tri­als and harsh con­di­tions sole­ly for their beliefs. Every per­son has the right to their opin­ion and deserves respect for their indi­vid­u­al­i­ty.”

The let­ter empha­sizes that Lukashenko has a “unique oppor­tu­ni­ty to turn the page on the past and enter his­to­ry not only as an uncom­pro­mis­ing ruler but also as a polit­i­cal leader who has shown wis­dom and com­pas­sion, respon­si­ble to your peo­ple and their future.”

Despite the recent releas­es, Vias­na reports that approx­i­mate­ly 1,400 indi­vid­u­als remain incar­cer­at­ed for their polit­i­cal activ­i­ties. Lukashenko, a self-pro­claimed leader, lost the 2020 elec­tion but seized pow­er through unprece­dent­ed vio­lence and repres­sion. A close ally of Russ­ian Pres­i­dent Vladimir Putin, he has ruled Belarus for thir­ty years.

Notably, Ali­ak­san­dr Danile­vich, an attor­ney-at-law spe­cial­iz­ing in sports and a friend of the AFF, is cur­rent­ly a polit­i­cal pris­on­er in Belarus.
Fur­ther­more, sev­er­al mem­bers of the advi­so­ry board have also faced pros­e­cu­tion on polit­i­cal grounds by the Lukashenko regime.