Belarus: Nobel Laureate Sentenced to 10 Years for Smuggling

Image copyright: axios

The Spin

Narrative A

For more than 25 years, the Viasna group has worked to promote human rights, making it a thorn in the side of Lukashenko — and gaining notoriety within the rules-based international community. Now the president has made Bialiatski and his pro-democracy colleagues into political prisoners for fighting back against his tyranny.

Narrative B

Despite the mischaracterization of Western nations and institutions, Bialiatski and his colleagues are being punished for committing serious crimes. The Viasna group smuggled money across countries to fund disturbances and gross violations of public order in Belarus, disguising these acts as charitable human rights activities.


Articles on this story

Sign Up for Our Free Newsletters
Sign Up for Our Free Newsletters

Sign Up!
Sign Up Now!