{"id":133676,"date":"2025-04-10T13:56:40","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T10:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/133676\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","slug":"observatory-for-defenders-calls-on-minsk-to-drop-charges-against-sudalenka","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/133676\/","title":{"rendered":"Observatory for Defenders calls on Minsk to drop charges against Sudalenka"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>April 10, <em>Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, in a statement yesterday, condemned the harassment of exiled Belarusian human rights activist Leanid Sudalenka, describing it as a &#8220;blatant attempt to silence his vocal support for imprisoned Belarusian human rights defenders.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The initiative called on the Belarusian authorities to immediately drop all charges against him. It also strongly condemned the ongoing pressure on Sudalenka&#8217;s relatives, including his elderly mother. This behavior by officials is a deliberate act of intimidation, causing additional harm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Observatory for Defenders recalled that in March, investigators confirmed new charges against Sudalenka under an extremism article, which carries a prison sentence of up to seven years. In April, law-enforcement officials informed his mother that the son was wanted, although they knew that the activist had not told her about his persecution or imprisonment. She was forced to sign a testimony that Sudalenka was not staying with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The initiative pointed out that Sudalenka &#8220;has already been unlawfully convicted in retaliation for his legitimate human rights [work] twice in the past, including <em>in absentia<\/em>.&#8221; The activist served his sentence and was released in July 2023. During his imprisonment, he was held in severe conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Observatory for Defenders is a partnership between the International Federation for Human Rights and the World Organization Against Torture, established in 1997. Its mission is to ensure effective protection and support for people persecuted for their peaceful human rights activities, wherever they are and whatever their field of work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"insert-block\">\n\n    <div class=\"insert-block__img\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"354\" height=\"236\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/sudalenko_POZ_1128x752-354x236.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/sudalenko_POZ_1128x752-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/sudalenko_POZ_1128x752-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/sudalenko_POZ_1128x752-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/sudalenko_POZ_1128x752-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/sudalenko_POZ_1128x752.jpg 1128w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/>                        <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Politics<\/label>\n\n                            <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Society<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">Politics, Society<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">Rights defender to continue advocacy despite extremism charges in Belarus<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">March 27, Pozirk. Exiled human rights defender Leanid Sudalenka has pledged to continue his work despite new extremism-related charges that Belarusian investigators have filed against him recently, MAYDAY.TEAM reports. Yesterday, several police officers and a prosecutor visited Sudalenka&#039;s home in &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/131798\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read the article<\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>April 10, Pozirk. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, in a statement yesterday, condemned the harassment of exiled Belarusian human rights activist Leanid Sudalenka, describing it as a &#8220;blatant attempt to silence his vocal support for imprisoned Belarusian human rights defenders.&#8221; The initiative called on the Belarusian authorities to immediately drop all [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":131841,"template":"","rubric":[16,15],"class_list":["post-133676","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics","rubric-society"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Observatory for Defenders calls on Minsk to drop charges against Sudalenka | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"April 10, Pozirk. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, in a statement yesterday, condemned the harassment of exiled Belarusian\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/133676\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Observatory for Defenders calls on Minsk to drop charges against Sudalenka | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"April 10, Pozirk. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, in a statement yesterday, condemned the harassment of exiled Belarusian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/133676\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-24T20:40:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/sudalenko_POZ_1128x752.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1128\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"752\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/133676\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/133676\/\"},\"headline\":\"Observatory for Defenders calls on Minsk to drop charges against Sudalenka\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-10T10:56:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T20:40:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/133676\/\"},\"wordCount\":259,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/133676\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/sudalenko_POZ_1128x752.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/133676\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/133676\/\",\"name\":\"Observatory for Defenders calls on Minsk to drop charges against Sudalenka | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/133676\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/133676\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/sudalenko_POZ_1128x752.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-10T10:56:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T20:40:57+00:00\",\"description\":\"April 10, Pozirk. 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The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, in a statement yesterday, condemned the harassment of exiled Belarusian","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/133676\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Observatory for Defenders calls on Minsk to drop charges against Sudalenka | Pozirk","og_description":"April 10, Pozirk. 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