{"id":166978,"date":"2025-12-05T13:45:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T10:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/166978\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"rights-defenders-pressure-on-lawyers-part-of-wider-crackdown","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/166978\/","title":{"rendered":"Rights defenders: pressure on lawyers part of wider crackdown"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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December 5, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> At least 18 lawyers are currently imprisoned in Belarus, many of them targeted for their professional activities, the Viasna Human Rights Center reports ahead of Lawyer\u2019s Day, celebrated in Belarus on the first Sunday in December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rights defenders consider jailed lawyers Alaksiej Baradko, Vital Brahiniec, Alaksandar Danilevi\u010d, Maksim Znak, Anastasija \u0141azarenka, Siarhiej Ch\u0142ysto\u016d and Julija Jurhilevi\u010d as political prisoners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U\u0142adzimir \u0141abkovi\u010d, Valancin Stefanovi\u010d and Anastasija \u0141ojka, lawyers known for their involvement in the human rights defense, as well as Alaksandar Kap\u0161ul and Ihar Minc, former legal advisers to Naftan and Palimir companies in the Viciebsk region, were also convicted for political reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former Investigative Committee investigator Mikita Stara\u017eenka and Natalla \u0141a\u0161\u010d, a former employee at a district prosecutor’s office in Minsk, are held behind bars on charges widely seen as politically-motivated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the 2020 political crisis and crackdown on the opposition, at least 146 lawyers in Belarus have had their licenses revoked, while dozens faced minor and criminal charges, often for defending regime critics and participants in the 2020 postelection protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Systematic pressure on lawyers in Belarus started after the 2020 presidential election. Authorities took control of the bar and required lawyers to work in legal consultancy offices approved by the ministry. Many lawyers fled the country, fearing politically-motivated persecution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka had said the bar should act \u201cbased on the norms of law, not on some made-up norms like freedom of speech and other freedoms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also read: OIAD: number of lawyers in Belarus plunges by 27 percent since 2021<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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December 5, Pozirk. At least 18 lawyers are currently imprisoned in Belarus, many of them targeted for their professional activities, the Viasna Human Rights Center reports ahead of Lawyer\u2019s Day, celebrated in Belarus on the first Sunday in December. Rights defenders consider jailed lawyers Alaksiej Baradko, Vital Brahiniec, Alaksandar Danilevi\u010d, Maksim Znak, Anastasija \u0141azarenka, Siarhiej […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":166972,"template":"","rubric":[16,15],"class_list":["post-166978","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics","rubric-society"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRights defenders: pressure on lawyers part of wider crackdown | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"December 5, Pozirk. 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