Laureates from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine receive Nobel Peace Prizes
The Nobel Peace Prize ceremony took place in Oslo. This year the winners were the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties, the Russian human rights center Memorial, and the Belarusian activist, founder of the human rights center Vesna Ales Byalyatsky. The awards were received by Byalyatsky's wife Natalia Pinchuk, Memorial board chairman Yan Rachinsky and head of the Center for Civil Liberties Oleksandra Matviychuk.
Bialiatski himself is in a Belarusian pre-trial detention center. He and his associates were arrested back in July 2021. Vesna helped collect information about those who were detained by the security forces at the protests and sent to detention centers. Human rights activists accumulated information about all those who were subjected to torture, provided assistance to detainees and those arrested. "Memorial" in Russia was recognized as a "foreign agent", and then liquidated. In fact, only the Ukrainian "Center for Civil Liberties" continues to exist freely in its own country.
Alexandra Matviychuk in her speech stated that it is necessary to create an international tribunal and bring Putin, Lukashenko and other war criminals to justice. “Yes, this is a bold move, but we must prove that the rule of law works and that justice exists,” Matviychuk said.
Earlier, Yan Rachinsky said that the Russian authorities recommended that the organization refuse the Nobel Prize. According to him, the reason for the dissatisfaction of the authorities is “unsuitable solaureates.” "Memorial" ignored this request, and in an interview with the BBC, Rachinsky called the decision of the Nobel Committee "remarkable", as it shows that state borders are not capable of dividing civil society.
