Lawyer Aliaksandr Danilevich sentenced to 10 years in jail for legal services to opposition
On April 10, the Minsk Municipal Court sentenced lawyer Aliaksandr Danilevich to 10 years in prison. Judge Tatsiana Falkouskaya handed down the verdict as requested by the prosecutor Tatsiana Tsybulia.
Danilevich was accused of “assisting in calls for sanctions” (part 6 of Article 16 and part 3 of Article 361 of the Criminal Code) to athletes Aliaksandra Herasimenia and Aliaksandr Apeikin, who were previously tried in absentia and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment, and “promoting extremist activities” (part 1 of Article 361-4 of the Criminal Code). The charges stemmed from Danilevich’s legal advice, his work on drafting appeals for strike committees, and an interview with “an extremist media”. Political prisoner pleaded not guilty and insisted that he was performing his duties.
What the lawyer was charged with
During the trial on April 10, it became known that the interview in question was given to Tribuna.com, a leading sports media outlet in Belarus.Although it was qualified as “promoting extremist activities”, the media itself has not been recognized as an extremist formation; it was deemed “extremist materials” by the court of the Čyhunačny District Court of Viciebsk on August 6, 2021.
It also became known that the charges include drafting six letters to Yara, a Norwegian chemical company that buys products from Belaruskali, and the International Olympic Committee. Danilevich was accused of aiding Herasimenia and Apeikin. The verdict against them only appeared in the lawyer's case file at the end.
According to the prosecution, Aliaksandr Danilevich advised, instructed, and provided information and other assistance to Aliaksandra Herasimenia and Aliaksandr Apeikin from August 9, 2020, to May 20, 2022, thereby assisting them in “calling for actions aimed at causing harm to the national security of the country, including the use of restrictive measures (sanctions) against the Republic of Belarus, its individuals, and legal entities”. These appeals were addressed to a foreign state and foreign and international organizations. They were published in the media and on the Internet, which is considered an aggravating factor by the Criminal Code.
Earlier, the Investigative Committee wrote that Danilevich “despite having a university degree in law and being a legal practitioner, decided to support extremists and advocates of legal nihilism”.
“One of the vivid examples of Danilevich's criminal activity is the preparation of letters and documents to the Norwegian company Yara, a reliable major buyer of potash fertilizers produced by Belaruskali. In his ‘letters’ he deliberately misrepresented the political, economic, and social situation in Belarus,” the official body said.
Human rights organizations, in contrast, believe that Danilevich's actions are legitimate, as they were aimed at urging Yara to comply with business and human rights standards and its obligations in this area, which are set out in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights adopted in 2011 and the company's corporate policies.
Prosecution for anti-war position and dissent
The lawyer was detained on May 20, 2022, as part of criminal proceedings. For some time, the matter was not known, but later it turned out that Danilevich had been charged with part 3 of Article 361 of the Criminal Code (“calling for restrictive measures (sanctions) and performing other actions aimed at harming the national security of Belarus”).
Aliaksandr Danilevich is the father of many children. Shortly before his arrest, he signed an anti-war appeal of lawyers concerning the war in Ukraine. Right after signing the letter against the war, Danilevich started having problems at the bar, and disciplinary proceedings were initiated. He was also dismissed from the Belarusian State University, where he taught in the Department of International Relations for over 20 years.
