The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500
June 30, 2025
Mr. John Coale
Deputy Assistant to the President of the United States
Deputy Special Presidential Envoy for Ukraine
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. Coale,
We respectfully call on you to take immediate and personal action to secure the release of Ales Bialiatski, the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and founder of the Belarusian Human Rights Center Viasna.
We were encouraged to learn of President Donald Trump’s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. It is only right that his efforts to advance peace and international stability are gaining global recognition.
At the same time, we must draw your attention to the continued imprisonment of Mr. Bialiatski — one of the few Nobel Peace Prize recipients in history who was behind bars when the award was granted. Since July 14, 2021, he has been unjustly imprisoned following a politically motivated and fabricated prosecution. In March 2023, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. His case is not only a grave injustice, but also a symbolic test of the world’s commitment to defending human rights and democratic values.
Over the past 28 years, Mr. Bialiatski and Viasna have earned some of the world’s most prestigious human rights honors, including the U.S. State Department’s Human Rights Defender Award and the Albie Award from the Clooney Foundation for Justice. Yet, his case remains dangerously underrecognized by the international community. Today, he is just one among more than 1,200 political prisoners in Belarus — effectively held as a political hostage by a regime seeking to erase the very values of freedom and human dignity that he has spent his life defending.
According to human rights monitors, at least seven political prisoners have died in custody due to torture, abuse, or medical neglect. Mr. Bialiatski — now in his sixties and suffering from health issues — is classified by Belarusian civil society as a prisoner at particularly high risk.
Mr. Coale, we believe the United States — and President Trump personally — can help bring about Mr. Bialiatski’s release. Your previous efforts, including the high-level U.S. delegation visits to Minsk and the successful release of political prisoners such as Youras Ziankovich, are proof that American influence is real and effective when mobilized with purpose.
We respectfully urge you to raise Mr. Bialiatski’s case at the highest level and recommend that President Trump publicly call for his release as a demonstration of American global moral leadership.
Your leadership, combined with the moral authority of President Trump as a Nobel nominee, can once again make a difference. As July 14 approaches — marking four years since Mr. Bialiatski’s arrest — his release would send a powerful global message and serve as a profound gesture ahead of his birthday on September 25.
Even during his sentencing, in his final speech at the trial, Mr. Bialiatski called not for revenge, but for dialogue and national reconciliation. His freedom would be the first meaningful step in that direction — with the United States leading the way.
For further correspondence, please contact: ziankovich@freebelarus.info
Respectfully,
Members of the Human Rights Center “Viasna”
Participants in the Campaign for the Release of Ales Bialiatski:
| /-/ | Leanid Sudalenka, former Belarusian political prisoner sentenced for 5 years prison time, released after 2.5 years |
| /-/ | Youras Ziankovich, Esq., a U.S. citizen, former Belarusian political prisoner sentenced for 13 years prison time, released after 4 years |
| /-/ | Aliaksandr Antaniuk, former Belarusian political prisoner sentenced and served 1.5 years in prison |
