On 1 November 2023, the Investigative Committee of Homiel region opened a criminal case against Belarusian human rights defender Leanid Sudalenka. He is charged with “facilitating extremist activity”, an offence envisaged by Article 361-4 of the Belarusian Criminal Code. Under the article, the convicted person can be imprisoned for up to six years.
Leanid Sudalenka is a prominent human rights defender, lawyer, and heads the Gomel branch of the Human Rights Centre Viasna (HRC Viasna). He is also an active campaigner and advocate for the abolition of the death penalty in Belarus. Leanid Sudalenka is laureate of the 2018 ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity’ Human Rights Prize of the French Republic. In 2020, together with human rights defenders Marfa Rabkova, Andrei Chapiuk, and Tatsiana Lasitsa, Leanid Sudalenka was awarded a Homo Hominin Award. The Homel branch of the HRC Viasna provides legal support to victims of human rights violations and helps them to prepare individual complaints to the United Nations Human Rights Committee.
On 1 November 2023, the Investigative Committee of Homel region opened a criminal case against the human rights defender Leanid Sudalenka under the charges of the “other facilitation of extremist activity“ as provided by Article 361-4 of the Belarusian Criminal Code. The punishment for this offense ranges from two to six years of imprisonment. Since the human rights defender resides outside of Belarus he has not yet familiarised himself with the case files. Leanid Sudalenka remains unsure which of his actions the authorities deemed as constituting “other facilitation of extremist activity.” Previously, on 14 August 2023, the Belarusian Committee for State Security (KGB) listed the Homiel branch of the Human Rights Centre Viasna (HRC Viasna) as an extremist organization and added the Homiel branch’s website and social media accounts to the Republic’s List of Extremist Content. The declaration of the Homiel branch of HRC Viasna and its online content as extremist exposes those who engage with this branch of the human rights organization to risks of administrative and criminal prosecution. Since Leanid Sudalenka is the Head of the Homel Branch of Vyasna, authorities can target the human rights defender on these grounds.
Leanid Sudalenka also believes that the criminal case could be a reprisal for him being outspoken about his experience as a political prisoner in Belarus.
Sources and social media
Belarus: New criminal case opened against rights lawyer Leanid Sudalenka
