Lawyer Danilevič gets 10 years in prison

April 10, BPN. The Minsk City Court has sentenced defense attorney Alaksandr Danilevič to 10 years in prison, lawyer Dźmitryj Łajeŭski’s Telegram channel reported.

Judge Taćciana Falkoŭskaja found him guilty on charges of promoting extremism and calling for sanctions that harmed national security.

Danilevič has been in custody since May 2022. Human rights activists said his persecution was politically motivated.

The prosecutor’s office said he assisted Alaksandra Hierasimienia and Alaksandr Apiejkin, founders of the embattled Belarusian Sports Solidarity Foundation (BSSF). He also allegedly helped strike committees to draft appeals on violations of workers’ rights and “urged the management of a foreign company to terminate contractual relations with the Belarusian counterparty.” On top of that, he gave an interview to an “extremist” media outlet, the prosecutors charged.

Pressure on the legal profession in Belarus mounted after the 2020 election campaign. Lawyers virtually lost their independence: since 2021, they can only work in legal consultancies whose heads are appointed by the justice ministry’s approval. Alaksandr Łukašenka said that the lawyers should be “under control.”