Belarus prosecutor requests 12-year jail term for Nobel winner Byalyatski

FILE PHOTO: Belarusian human rights activist Ales Byalyatski meets with journalists and his supporters, after he was released from prison and arrived at a railway station in Minsk, Belarus, June 21, 2014. REUTERS/Marina Serebryakova

KYIV (Reuters) - A Belarusian prosecutor asked a Minsk court on Thursday to sentence Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Byalyatski to 12 years in prison, Byalyatski's human rights organisation said, in a case allies see as political retribution.

Byalyatski and three co-defendants, one of whom is abroad, have been charged with financing protests and smuggling money. They also face a fine of more than $73,000, the Viasna human rights organisation said.