Belarusian human rights activist Ales Bialiatski meets with journalists and his supporters, after he was released from prison and arrived at a railway station in Minsk, Belarus, June 21, 2014. He was jailed again in June 2021 amid massive demonstrations against President Alexander Lukashenko’s dictatorship broke out after the presidential election in August 2020. Held without a trial or conviction, Bialiatski was released from prison on Dec. 13, 2025. (OSV News/Marina Serebryakova, Reuters)
Belarusian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski is urging global church leaders to speak out more forcefully as repression tightens against Catholics and other believers.
Speaking a few months after his December 2025 release from a 10-year penal colony sentence for “smuggling” and “grossly violating public order, Bialiatski said political prisoners may not hear advocacy directly – but knowing they’re not forgotten matters deeply.
His appeal came in mid-April as Father Anatoly Parakhnevich entered a second month in KGB detention, with no official charges disclosed. Human rights advocates report a climate of fear, with families increasingly reluctant to share information.
Meanwhile, Belarus’ small Greek Catholic Church faces possible extinction after parish closures and arrests of clergy. Bialiatski, who said he was still receiving medical treatment since being released from prison, warned this reflects a broader pattern under President Alexander Lukashenko, whose government has steadily restricted religious life.
Despite Vatican interventions securing some releases, activists say pressure continues. Bialiatski hopes to raise these concerns directly with the pope, insisting sustained international attention is crucial – and that silence only deepens the suffering.