The prize is an expression of the Polish diplomacy’s recognition of the activity of Aleksander Bialacki, a Belarusian oppositionist dedicated to the fight for human rights. Ales Bialacki is Vice-President of the International Federation for Human Rights and the founder of the Viasna Human Rights Centre, which helps those repressed in Belarus. He has been nominated on several occasions for the Nobel prize and is the recipient of the Homo Homini Award. For his activity he was sentenced in a political trial to four and a half years’ imprisonment in a penal colony along with the confiscation of property.

Ales Bialacki’s commitment deserves the highest recognition. Let the Pro Dignitate Humana award be a symbol of support for other human rights defenders the world over.

Pro Dignitate Humana is a prestigious annual award founded by Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski in 2011. It is conferred upon those who have made exceptional contribution to the fight for human rights in non-democratic states, repressive to their own citizens.

Ales Bialacki’s wife Natalia Pinczuk accepted the prize on his behalf.

Marcin Bosacki
Press Spokesman