Lednik funeral closely watched by security services

February 23, Pozirk. About 10 people braved fear to attend the funeral for social democratic activist Ihar Lednik in Barysaŭ as the ceremony was closely watched by security services on February 22.

“People are so intimidated that even his party mates did not take the risk because of the threat [of arrest],” a source close to Lednik told Pozirk speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions.

Security officers observed the ceremony from a vehicle with red license plates, the source said.

Lednik, 63, died at the Minsk District Hospital on February 20 after being admitted from Penal Colony No. 2 in Babrujsk, Minsk region. He had been serving his three-year sentence at Penal Colony No. 15 in Mahiloŭ.

In September 2022, Judge Taćciana Šocik found him guilty of defaming the head of state in an article run by the journal Pozitsiya of the now defunct Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Hramada). The Hramada party was deleted from the state register on January 8.

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 in Barysaŭ declared his Facebook account “extremist content.”

At least five opponents of the government are known to have died in prisons since 2022.