“I am very happy”, reacts Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, leader of the Belarusian opposition

“I am very happy.” Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, leader of the Belarusian opposition in exile, reacted on franceinfo to the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize winners, Friday, October 7. The prize was awarded on Friday morning to Belarusian lawyer and human rights defender Ales Bialiatski, the Russian human rights organization Memorial and the Center for Civil Liberties in Ukraine, for having “for many years promoted the right to criticize power and protected the fundamental rights of citizens”. A highly symbolic prize, in the midst of the war in Ukraine.

“Je am very happy, I support Ales Bialiatski. I’m really happy to hear this news.” reacted Svetlana Tikhanovskaya on franceinfo. “I hope that interest in human rights in Belarus, torture in prison will be renewed with this appointment,” she added.

The Nobel committee, announcing the names of the laureates on Friday, called on Belarus to release Ales Bialiatski, arrested again in 2020 after a large protest movement against the regime. “Our message is to urge the authorities in Belarus to release Mr. Beliatski and we hope that happens and that he comes to Oslo to receive the award,” said Berit Reiss-Andersen, Norwegian chair of the Nobel committee. A figure in the pro-democracy movement from the 1980s in Belarus, Ales Bialiatski has “dedicated his life to the promotion of democracy and peaceful development in his country”, stresses the committee.