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Ales Bialiatski

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The Resume

    (September 25, 1962- )
    Born in Vyartsilya, Russia
    Activist for Belarussian independence and democracy
    Founding member of the Belarussian Popular Front (1989) and Viasna Human Rights Center (1996)
    Co-recipient (with human rights groups in Ukraine and Russia) of the Nobel Peace Prize (2022)

Why he might be annoying:

    His name can also be transliterated from the Cyrillic alphabet as Bialacki, Byalyatski, Bialiacki, and Balyatsky -- all of which are a bitch to spell.
    He has been imprisoned twice for tax evasion (2011, 2021).
    Ukranian politicians and activists complained that having representatives of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia jointly receive the Nobel Peace Prize played into Putin's propaganda about the nations being 'three brotherly peoples.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    The tax evasion charges against him have been denounced as politically motivated by foreign governments and human rights groups.
    The date of his first arrest (August 4) was adopted by the Belarussian opposition as a holiday, the International Day of Solidarity.
    At the time of his Nobel Peace Prize win, he had spent over a year in jail without a trial.
    In addition to the Nobel Peace Prize, he received the US State Department's Human Rights Defenders Award (2011), the Council of Europe's Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize (2012), the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought (2020), and the 'alternative Nobel Prize,' the Right Livelihood Award (2020).

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying