Belarus Nobel Prize winner Ales Bialiatski goes on trial

Putin orders ceasefire for 36 hours in Ukraine

• Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Moscow’s armed forces to hold a 36­hour ceasefire in Ukraine this weekend for the Russian Orthodox Christmas holiday, the Kremlin said.
• The order follows a proposal by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, earlier in the day, which was dismissed by an official in the Ukrainian presidential office as propaganda. 
• “Based on the fact that a large number of citizens professing Orthodoxy live in the combat areas, we call on the Ukrainian side to declare a ceasefire and give them the opportunity to attend services on Christmas Eve, as well as on the Day of the Nativity of Christ,” according to Mr. Putin’s order.
• Many Orthodox Christians, including those living in Russia and Ukraine, celebrate Christmas on January 6-7.

Belarus Nobel Prize winner Ales Bialiatski goes on trial

• Jailed Nobel Prize winner Ales Bialiatski went on trial in Minsk in what supporters see as a bid to clamp down on Viasna, Belarus's top rights group which he founded.
• Ales Bialiatski, who was co-awarded last year's Nobel Peace Prize, founded Viasna (Spring), the authoritarian country's most prominent rights group, in 1996.
• Bialiatski have been in detention since July 2021. They were initially accused of tax evasion.
• Viasna said in November that the rights campaigners now stand accused of smuggling a "large amount of cash" into Belarus to allegedly fund opposition activities.
• In 2021, he was found guilty of organising riots, inciting social hatred and other charges and sentenced to 18 years in prison. He face between seven and 12 years of imprisonment.