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“I believe that Belarusian society is ready for democratic change and that it has already shown as much,” said Belarusian dissident and 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski during a public debate held at Charles University. In a crowded lecture hall on Celetná Street, he spoke about the current situation in Belarus and the conditions he faced as a political prisoner in a penal colony.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski at Charles University.
Bialiatski, founder of the human rights organization Viasna, is one of the most prominent figures in Belarusian civil society. In December 2025, thanks to international diplomatic efforts, he was released from prison, where he had been held since his arrest in 2021. “I come to Prague almost as if I were coming home, but I can’t really go home right now,” said Bialiatski, whom Belarus deported to Lithuania immediately after his release and who now continues his activities from exile.
In his personal account, he described the conditions under which political prisoners live in Belarus, the physical punishment and mental abuse inflicted on them by Alexander Lukashenko’s regime, and his experiences of living alongside other, “non-political” prisoners.
The fact that he had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize was never officially communicated to Ales Bialiatski in prison; he had to find out by chance from another prisoner. Eventually, however, he received a letter from the administration notifying him to pay taxes on the prize money.
He also offered deeper insight into the state of affairs in Belarus in recent years. “I would call what happened in 2020 a peaceful revolution, though one that did not lead to a change of regime. But it did show that Belarusian society has changed, that it is pro-European, cares about human rights, and wants change,” Bialiatski explained, referring to the protests against the results of the rigged elections, which brought more than 100,000 protesters to the streets of Minsk. Citing discussions with other inmates at the penal colony, he demonstrated that Lukashenko’s government no longer enjoys support even among the poorest parts of the population.
He also spoke about the influence Moscow wields in Belarus today. “If it weren’t for Putin’s support, we would be referring to Lukashenko as the leader of Belarus in the past tense today. But the price of this support is very high for the Belarusian people. Essentially, something of a colonisation of Belarus by Russia is taking place; a gradual Russification. Over the last few months, too, the pressure to suppress Belarusian culture has been intensifying,” explained Bialiatski.
Among the participants were Belarusian students, as well as Alyaksandr Lukashuk, a former long-time reporter and director of the Belarusian section of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) in Prague.
He pointed out that just one day earlier, Maryna Adamovich, the wife of another prominent Belarusian dissident, Mikhail Statkevich, had been detained in Belarus shortly after returning from Prague, where she had accepted the Homo Homini award on her husband’s behalf at the One World festival.
In closing, Bialiatski thanked all who continue to draw attention to the situation in Belarus despite the many other conflicts and crises currently unfolding around the world, and pledged to continue supporting human rights in Belarus and working toward the democratization of the regime there. “We still have some tasks left to complete,” he added.
The event was jointly organized by the Prague Civil Society Centre, Charles University, and the Office of the Democratic Forces of Belarus in the Czech Republic.
Text: Tereza Vrublová
Photo: Hynek Glos