February 20, Pozirk. Political prisoner Ihar Lednik has died, the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Hramada) reported. He was 63.
Authorities arrested the journalist and civic activist on April 12, 2022. A judge sentenced him to 15 days in jail, but he was not released after serving his sentence.
On September 6, 2022, Judge Taćciana Šocik sentenced Lednik to three years in prison for allegedly libeling the head of state in the BSDP’s journal.
Lednik, a Group II disabled person, had heart problems. In June 2022, his lawyer said that his health deteriorated. A month later, the activist reportedly underwent gastrointestinal surgery.
In July 2022, a district judge declared Lednik’s Facebook page extremist.
Lednik’s death brings the death toll of Belarusian political prisoners to five. Vadzim Chraśko died at a penal colony in January 2024. Vitold Ašurak died in May 2022; Mikałaj Klimovič, in May 2023. Artist Aleś Puškin died in July 2023 after being hospitalized from a Hrodna prison.
