The award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Belarusian human rights activist Ales Byalyatski is recognition for the whole Belarusian people in standing up to authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, opposition spokesman Franak Viacorka said on Friday.
He told Reuters that Byalyatski was jailed in inhuman conditions and he hoped the prize, shared with Russian and Ukrainian human rights organisations, would lead to his release.
"He's kept in inhuman conditions and we hope it will help to release him and thousands of others from Lukashenko's and KGB's cells," Viacorka said.
(Reporting by Mark Trevelyan; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)