Nobel Prize Winner Byalyatski Faces Trial In Belarus

Byaly­ats­ki, 60, the founder of the Vyas­na-1966 human rights group, and three oth­er Vyas­na work­ers face up to 12 years in prison if con­vict­ed on charges of financ­ing anti-gov­ern­ment protests and smug­gling mon­ey. One of the defen­dants is being tried in absen­tia. Sup­port­ers dis­miss the charges as polit­i­cal ret­ri­bu­tion. Byaly­ats­ki shared the 2022 Nobel Prize with the Russ­ian rights group Memo­r­i­al and the Ukrain­ian Cen­ter for Civ­il Lib­er­ties.