Ales Bialatski nominated for Vaclav Havel award

The Belarusian human rights activist has been nominated by over 30 Polish NGOs.

The initiative of awarding Ales Bialatski with a Vaclav Havel prize belongs to Stephan Batory foundation, Belsat TV channel reports.

The prize in the human rights domain is awarded once a year by the Parliamentary Assemble of the Council of Europe (PASE) in cooperation with the Vaclav Havel library and Charta 77 foundation. The award highlights exceptional activities of civil society activists, working in human rights domain in Europe and beyond it.

For the first time this year the award was announced on 25 March in Prague at a ceremony of signing cooperation documents by PASE’s president Jean-Claude Mignon, the director of Vaclav Havel library Marta Smolíková and the chairman of Charta 77’s steering committee František Janocha. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Czech Republic Karel Schwarzenberg was also present at the ceremony.

The Vaclav Havel award for human rights has replaced the award, created in 2007 by the Parliamentary Assemble of the Council of Europe and awarded every two years for efforts in promoting human rights. In 2009 it was awarded to Human Rights Watch, and in 2011 – to the Russian Committee Against Tortures.

People or non-governmental organizations, working in the human rights domain, can suggest nominees for the prestigious award. Requests with the recommendations of at least five non-governmental organizations must be sent the Parliamentary Assembly’s Secretary General before 30 June.

The name of the winner will be announced at the end of September. The award ceremony will take place in Strasbourg at the opening of the autumn session of the Parliamentary Assemble of the Council of Europe. The winner will receive a diploma, statue and 60 000 euros.

For the past year Ales Bialatski, who remains in prison, was repeatedly awarded for fighting for justice and human rights. The Belarusian political prisoner received the Petra Kelly and Lech Wałęsa awards. The head of the human rights center Viasna was also among the laureates of charter97.org’s award for outstanding achievements in human rights protection in 2012.