Call to Support Political Amnesty in Belarus by Svetlana Alexievich, J. M. Coetzee, Herta Müller, and 56 other Nobel Laureates

59 Nobel laureates, including writers John Maxwell Coetzee, Herta Müller, and Svetlana Alexievich, have urged self-proclaimed Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko to release more political prisoners.

The open appeal also urges the U.N. secretary-general, Polish leadership, and other countries to support political amnesty in Belarus. The open appeal was published on Nobel laureate and Belarusian political scientist Dmitry Bolkunets’s website.

After the Belarusian human rights group “Viasna” reported the release of 18 political prisoners in early July, it was revealed that roughly 1,400 political prisoners remain incarcerated. “All citizens who have suffered for their views, active civic stance, and protest actions deserve freedom. Among them are journalists, scientists, doctors, workers, public figures, and human rights defenders, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski,” states the appeal.

Despite Alexander Lukashenko’s recent signing of an amnesty law, the document does not extend to individuals involved in “extremist and terrorist activities.”

Among others, the Open Appeal was signed by three Nobel laureates in literature:

• Svetlana Alexievich, Nobel Laureate in Literature (2015), Belarus. Alexievich was awarded for her polyphonic monument to suffering and courage in our time.
• John Coetzee, Nobel Laureate in Literature (2003), South Africa. Coetzee received the award for his well-crafted composition, characterized by analytical brilliance and engagement with the plight of the outsider.
• Herta Müller, Nobel Laureate in Literature (2009), Germany. Müller was awarded for depicting the landscape of the dispossessed through concentrated poetry and frank prose.

Chemistry, Physics, Physiology or Medicine, Economics, and Peace Nobel Prize winners are among the 59 signatories, including 2022 Peace Prize winner Oleksandra Matviichuk, Head of Centre for Civil Liberties (Ukraine).

The list may be updated.

Copy editing: Terra Friedman King