21 May 2023 – PEN International, the literary and free expression organisation, has released a letter signed by 103 Nobel Laureates, expressing solidarity with writer, human rights defender, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and PEN member Ales Bialiatski, and condemning the Belarusian authorities’ brutal, relentless, and systematic crackdown on independent voices. Today marks the International Day of Solidarity with Prisoners of Conscience in Belarus.

PEN America, PEN Belarus, PEN Armenia, and PEN Moscow Make Joint Statement on International Writers for Peace Day.

3 March: Today a court in Minsk sentenced writer, Nobel Peace Prize winner and PEN Belarus member Ales Bialiatski to 10 years in prison on trumped up charges of smuggling, and organising and financing actions that grossly violate public order. Bialiatski was tried alongside two colleagues from the Viasna Human Rights Centre (Viasna) – Board Member Valiantsin Stefanovich and lawyer Uladzimir Labkovich – who were sentenced to nine years and seven years in prison, respectively. A fourth member of Viasna, Zmister Salauyou, was tried in absentia and sentenced to eight years in prison.

Tomorrow marks one year since the Russian Federation launched a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. According to the UN, 7,199 civilians have been killed and 11,756 injured, although the actual figures are likely much higher. Many are still reported missing. Over 14 million people have been forced to flee their homes. Over 2.8 million Ukrainians are in the Russian Federation and Belarus; most were forcibly displaced.

Journalist and essayist Andrzej Poczobut has been sentenced to eight years in a medium-security penal colony.

PEN Belarus and Human Rights Center Viasna, Belarusian organizations both operating in exile, are among the top 10 candidates for the Human Rights Tulip award, the award sponsor the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported. In 2022 the award ceremony will take place on 8 December during Human Rights Week.

On 7 October 2022, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize would be awarded to writer and human rights defender Ales Bialiatski from Belarus, the Russian human rights organisation Memorial, and the Ukrainian human rights organisation Center for Civil Liberties.