In Minsk, a lawyer was sentenced to 10 years for legal assistance

The Minsk City Court sentenced lawyer Aleksandr Danylevich to 10 years in prison. Ego was accused of facilitating extremist activities and calling for the introduction of sanctions against Belarus. Danylevich provided legal advice to oppositionists Aleksandr Gerasimen and Aleksandr Opeykin. In addition, he gave an interview to the sports publication “Tribune”, which is considered extremist in Belarus.

Danylevich specializes in legal assistance to athletes. Alexandra Gerasimenya is a world swimming champion, two-time vice-champion of the Olympic Games. Alexander Opeykin – handball player, founder of the Minsk handball club “Vityaz-Leon”. Both of them spoke out against the regime of Belarusian authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko. In December 2022, both athletes were sentenced in absentia by a Belarusian court to 12 years in prison. Athletes live abroad.

According to human rights defender Dmitry Laevsky, the court declared that the legal councils assisted in the preparation of the appeals that Gerasimenya and Opeykin sent to international sports organizations. In the opinion of the prosecutor’s office, these appeals spread “knowingly false information” about the human rights situation in Belarus.

Laevsky clarifies that neither in the text of the indictment, nor in the process, exactly what information given in the documents allegedly compiled by Danylevich are considered false and why they are unreliable.

Belarusian human rights activists emphasize that Danylevich is being prosecuted for legal assistance to clients, that is, for fulfilling his professional duties. This contradicts both the Belarusian Law on Advocacy and international law.