An action dedicated to the second anniversary of the arrest of Ales Bialiatski took place in the capital of Lithuania.

The event was held near the Belarusian Embassy to Lithuania and was attended by about 30 people. The action participants put on masks with a portrait of Ales Bialiatski and unfurled national flags and posters: “Human rights advocacy is no crime!”, “Solve problems, not jail those who speak openly about them!” and “Freedom to political prisoners!”.

During the event some unknown people hanged out a white transparency right on the wall of the Belarusian Embassy. The banner contained a portrait of Ales Bialiatski and an inscription in English “Freedom for political prisoners in Belarus”. It could be seen well enough from the Embassy’s windows.

“The poster remained hanging there after the end of the action. The police refused to remove it, referring to the absence of special equipment,” commented one of the organizers of the event to charter97.org.

Bear in mind that yesterday and information picket was held in the center of Vilnius: social activists told passers by about the persecution of Ales Bialiatski and other social and political activists in Belarus. People of good will could also sign postcards in support of Belarusian political prisoners.

Ales Bialiatski was arrested on 4 August 2011. In November 2011 he was found guilty of concealing income on an exceptionally large scale and sentenced to 4.5 years in maximum security prison with the confiscation of property. The reason for the criminal prosecution of Mr. Bialiatski was that he possessed bank accounts in the banks of Lithuania and Poland, on which financial means for human rights activities were accumulated. At present Ales Bialiatski is serving a prison term in penal colony No. 2 in Babruisk.