Ales Bialiatski was arrested again in 2021 and was then sentenced for tax evasion to 7 years in prison, according to major media reports. He was later sentenced to 10 years in prison for smuggling and financing of political protests, though the specific activities leading to these charges have not been detailed publicly. In 2022, he received the Nobel Peace Prize, shared with the Russian organization Memorial and the Ukrainian CCL, adding to a list of international awards that includes the Council of Europe's Vaclav Havel Prize in 2012, the EU Parliament's Sakharov Prize, and the Swedish Right Livelihood Award in 2020.
The current status of his imprisonment and any legal appeals remains unclear. Bialiatski founded the human rights organization Viasna in 1996, which was banned in 2003 but has continued to operate, according to major media. The organization's current operational status and impact are not fully known, as it faces ongoing challenges in Belarus.
Born in Vyartsilya, Russian Karelia in 1962, Bialiatski is a trained teacher and linguist, major media report. He engaged in human rights work in the then Soviet Belarus already in the 1980s, laying the groundwork for his later activism. 5 years in prison for 'concealing income on a large scale', though the details of this charge have not been disclosed.
He was released early in 2014, but his recent imprisonments mark a renewed crackdown. The international community's response to his recent sentencing has not been specified in available reports.