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Ales (Alaksiej) Anatoljevich Michalevic (, Ales Mikhalevich, born 15 May 1975 in
Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...
,
Byelorussian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 1922 as an independent state, and ...
) is a
Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
ian public figure and
politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
, candidate in the 2010 Belarusian presidential election.


Early life and education

Michalevic was born in
Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...
to a family of research associates of the
National Academy of Sciences of Belarus The National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB; ; , , ) is the national academy of Belarus. History Inbelkult - predecessor to the Academy The Academy has its origins in the Institute of Belarusian Culture (Inbelkult), a Belarusian acade ...
. Following studies in
Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...
at
mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
school No. 19 and the Belarusian Humanities Lyceum, Michalevic attended the Belarusian State University, Faculty of Law, graduating in 1997 with a degree in
Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
and
Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...
. While at university, Michalevic headed the Belarusian Students’ Association, a non-governmental organization dedicated to protecting the rights of Belarusian students. Michalevic also undertook periods of study at the
University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...
(
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
) and
University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
( UK). In 2013 Michalevic pursued PhD in
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
at
Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences (, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars a ...
(the doctoral dissertation title is "Parties and Movements in the Process of Post-Communist Transformation"). In 1997, Michalevic founded and became the leader of an organization working in the sphere of youth exchanges and youth tourism. Starting 2000, Michalevic worked as deputy director and later General Director of a tourist company. Following Michalevic's participation in the
2004 Belarusian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Belarus on 17 October 2004, with a second round of voting in two constituencies on 27 October, and a third round in one on 20 March 2005.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data hand ...
, his company became target of numerous state controls and inspections which led to Michalevic resigning from his position. In 2005, Michalevic qualified as a crisis manager accredited at the Ministry of Economics of the Belarus. In 2007-08 he worked as a legal consultant at the Association of Disabled Veterans of the War in Afghanistan, and in 2008-10 he worked as a lawyer at the Belarusian Independent Trade Union.


Political activities

Michalevic was deputy chairman of the Partyja BNF in 2004–2008. Following his nomination to the position of party chairman in 2008 and proposal of a program of reforms, Michalevic was expelled from the party for publicly criticizing the party leadership. From 2003 to 2007, Michalevic was deputy to the Pukhavichy district council and coordinator of the Assembly of Deputies to Local Councils. At the same time he published a local newspaper in the town of Maryina Horka. He initiated a number of decisions on widening the powers of local self-governing bodies. On 27 January 2010, Michalevic officially launched his campaign seeking nomination as an independent candidate in 2011 Belarusian presidential election. On November 18, 2010, Michalevic officially registered as a presidential candidate. On December 19, 2010, Michalevic took part in the meeting in downtown Minsk but did not take part in the demonstration and riots that followed. He went home downtown where he was with his family. On December 20, 2010, at the election night Michalevic was arrested by
KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...
agents in his apartment in Minsk. He was charged for organizing of mass riots. On 11 January 2011,
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
recognized him as a
prisoner of conscience A prisoner of conscience (POC) is anyone imprisoned because of their race, sexual orientation, religion, or political views. The term also refers to those who have been imprisoned or persecuted for the nonviolent expression of their conscienti ...
. January 11, 2011 Michalevic called from the KGB jail to his wife. Under the pressure of a voice heard in the phone, Michalevic asked her to not go to Brussels and Warsaw to give a speech at EU-parliament and Polish Sejm hearings regarding Belarus. His wife interpreted this as if her husband in fact told her to go there. The night between January 12 and January 13 the car in which Milana Michalevic and their youngest daughter was traveling to Poland was stopped by KGB agents. Milana Michalevic was informed that she was banned from travel abroad until her husband's future is decided by the KGB. Currently Michalevic's wife is under the close observation of KGB agents in Minsk. On February 19, 2011, Michalevic was released from prison. After that, he made a statement in which he claimed that he and other political prisoners had been subjected to tortures. Soon after his statements about tortures in Belarusian prisons, Michalevic secretly escaped the country. On 24 March 2011 he was granted political asylum in the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
. On 18 November 2011 Michalevic received the Rights & Democracy John Humphrey Freedom Award from Canadian International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development. Michalevic was awarded “for his courage, determination and perseverance, and … efforts to make Belarus a free and open democracy”. On 8 September 2015 Ales Michalevic returned home to Belarus. He took the train Vilnius - Minsk and was immediately arrested at the border as a “person who is in the wanted list” by the border officers. Michalevic was released but he still remains the last accused person in the 2010 case of “mass riots”. In March 2016 the case against Ales Michalevic was suspended, however it can be reopened at any moment.


Personal

Divorced father of two daughters. In addition to his native Belarusian and Russian, Ales is fluent in Polish and English and is learning German.


References


External links


Official websiteBelarusian language version of Ales Michalevic’s blogRussian language version of Ales Michalevic’s blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Michalevic, Ales 1975 births Living people Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Belarus Candidates in the 2010 Belarusian presidential election BPF Party politicians Belarusian State University alumni Politicians from Minsk