Ales Bialiatski has been nominated for the Europarlament's Prize

An imprisoned Belarusian activist has been nominated for the annual Sakharov Prize.

MEP Jacek Saryusz-Wolski (European People's Party, Poland), who took the initiative, wrote letters to his colleagues, stressing that Bialiatski's contribution to the promotion of peace and democracy has been recognised widely, including by the United Nations and by the fact that he has also been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

“The European Parliament, which already expressed its support for Mr Bialiatski's in the Resolution of 15 September 2011, in granting him the Sakharov Prize would prove that his persistent fight for freedom in the last remaining dictatorship on our continent is exemplary and one of universal importance. It would also, I believe, give Mr Bialiatski even more strength to carry on with his work in the defence of European values,” Sariusz-Wolski wrote to MEPs.

As EurActiv understands, there are no other candidacies for the Sakharov Prize this year. In theory, each candidate needs at least 40 signatures or support from MEPs or that of a political group in order to be considered. The deadline for collecting the signatures is the afternoon of 12 September.

Bialiatski is an academic (he holds a doctorate from the Belarussian Academy of Sciences) and a member of the Belarussian Writers Union. He has founded the Viasna Human Rights Centre, a non-governmental organisation that provides financial and legal assistance to political prisoners and their families.

On 24 October 2011 Bialiatski was sentenced to four and a half years of prison for alleged tax evasion. The sentence was condemned by the United Nations and many countries called for his immediate release. Amnesty International declared him a prisoner of conscience and the International Federation for Human Rights, of which he is vice president, launched a campaign for his release. Earlier this year Bialiatski was nominated for the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize.

The Sakharov Prize, named after Soviet scientists and dissident Andrei Sakharov, was established in 1988 by the European Parliament.