Belarusian Nobel peace prize winner moved to brutal prison; AP in Tallinn via The Guardian, May 24, 2023

AP in Tallinn via The Guardian; Belarusian Nobel peace prize winner moved to brutal prison

"The Nobel peace prize laureate Ales Bialiatski has been transferred to a notoriously brutal prison in Belarus and has not been heard from in a month, his wife has said.

Natalia Pinchuk said that Bialiatski, who is serving a 10-year sentence, has been kept in an information blackout since his transfer to the N9 colony for repeat offenders in the city of Gorki, where inmates are beaten and subjected to hard labour.

“The authorities create unbearable conditions for Ales and keep him in strict informational isolation. There is not a single letter from him for a month, nor does he receive my letters,” Pinchuk said on Wednesday...

The harsh punishment of Bialiatski and three of his colleagues was a response to massive protests over a 2020 election that gave the authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, a further term in office...

All four activists have maintained their innocence, according to the Human Rights Center Viasna, which was founded by Bialiatski. He shared the 2022 peace prize with Memorial, a prominent Russian human rights group, and the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties."

Belarus’s dictator isn’t winning. He’s desperate.; The Washington Post, May 25, 2021

David Ignatius, The Washington Post; Belarus’s dictator isn’t winning. He’s desperate.

"Dissident journalist Ihar Losik had been arrested in June 2020, but Protasevich continued a blog called Nexta on the encrypted social media app Telegram. The KGB beat and arrested people, but the young journalists and their followers continued to share the truth...

One American who has met with Protasevich recently explained: “What I took away is that he is committed to the integrity of the journalistic profession. He’s willing to work in the most dire situation. This isn’t just a hobby for him. It’s a mission to provide information direct to the people.”"

Belarus Forces Down Plane to Seize Dissident; Europe Sees ‘State Hijacking’; The New York Times, May 23, 2021

Anton Troianovski and Ivan Nechepurenko, The New York Times ; Belarus Forces Down Plane to Seize Dissident; Europe Sees ‘State Hijacking’

The dissident, Roman Protasevich, co-founded a Telegram channel that is a popular opposition outlet in Belarus. The plane was flying from Athens to Lithuania when it was forced down.

"It underscored that with the support of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, Mr. Lukashenko is prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to repress dissent."