Lawyer Dzmitry Laeuski, who defended Babaryka and Znak, Imprisoned
On September 9, the Minsk City Court sentenced lawyer Dzmitry Laeuski. He was sentenced to three years in prison and taken into custody in the courtroom. Yauhen Pylchanka, a friend and former colleague of Laeuski, reported this to "Viasna".
The lawyer was accused under Art. 361-4 of the Criminal Code (facilitating extremist activity) and Art. 369-1 of the Criminal Code (discrediting the Republic of Belarus).
The basis for the charges, on which Laeuski was convicted, were his interviews with various independent Belarusian media outlets.
In 2020-2021, Dzmitry Laeuski defended politician Viktar Babaryka and lawyer Maksim Znak. Immediately after Babaryka's sentence was delivered, Laeuski was expelled from the bar association. The reason for this was his speech during the court debates on the case.
Even earlier, in 2011-2012, Laeuski was the defender of human rights activist Ales Bialiatski. After this case, he was forced to leave the legal profession for several years under pressure.
Now reading
Do you remember the Minsk resident who saved a flag from under the feet of riot police in 2017 — at the cost of his freedom? Now he, a former political prisoner, needs help 3
Do you remember the Minsk resident who saved a flag from under the feet of riot police in 2017 — at the cost of his freedom? Now he, a former political prisoner, needs help
"They see Belarus as part of Russia." What the rise of "Alternative for Germany" means, how far it can go, and how Belarusians should position themselves 4848
Comments