Tomorrow, 14 February, Ales Bialiatski, right, founder of the independent, but banned human rights organisation Human Rights Centre VIASNA, will receive the prestigeous Andrej Sakharov Freedom Award from the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. Bialiatski will attend a seminar and also the monthly solidarity with Belarus picket in front of the Norwegian parliament while in Oslo. (13-FEB-06)

This article is based on press releases from the Norwegian helsinki Committee. These have been edited for republication here by HRH / Niels jacob Harbitz. Photo of Bialiatski: the Norwegian Helsinki Committee.

The award ceremony tomorrow takes place at the Norwegian Theatre from 13-15.30, with input from both Norwegian and Belarusian artists. The seminar takes place at the Norwegian Human Rights House in Oslo on Wednesday, 15 February from 10 to 12 and will focus on the forthcoming Presidential elections, scheduled for 19 March this year. Finally, Bialiatski will also attend the monthly demonstration outside the Norwegian parliament, taking place at 4 pm on the 16th every month. This event is co-arranged by the centre and liberal leaning among the youth sections of Norwegian political parties, and with the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and HRH, among others, as contributors and regular attenders. This monthly demonstration also takes place in Minsk and other European cities. For further details, click here.