Nobel Peace recipient from Belarus, Ales Byalyatski will go on trial on Thursday and may get up to 12 years in prison, according to a court in Minsk. His supporters believe that this is a political retribution for his efforts on behalf of human rights.

The 60-year-old is one of the most well-known of the hundreds of Belarusians who were imprisoned amid a brutal crackdown on anti-government rallies that erupted in the summer of 2020. Byalyatski co-founded the human rights organisation Viasna-1996.

He was detained in 2021 along with two colleagues from Viasna-1996. In October, he shared the Nobel Peace Prize with the Russian rights group Memorial and Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties.

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On allegations of funding protests and smuggling money, the trio may spend seven to twelve years in prison. Byalyatski has refrained from publicly responding to the accusations, and his attorney is not permitted to discuss the matter in public.

The case is being pursued in absentia against a fourth rights activist who left Belarus.

Viasna-1996 played a key role in offering legal and financial support to hundreds of Belarusians who were imprisoned during large-scale protests that broke out after long-time autocrat Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, claimed a resounding win in the 2020 election.

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”The allegations against our colleagues are linked to their human rights activity, the Viasna human rights centre’s provision of help to the victims of politically motivated persecution,” the group said of the case.

The trial was scheduled to start at 9:00 GMT at a court in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.

Byalyatski and his associates have been referred to as "political prisoners" by other human rights activists. They believe that there are around 1,500 political prisoners in Belarusian jails.

Since 2020, they claim that 50,000 individuals have been jailed for participating in protests or criticising the government.

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(Edited by : Pradeep John)