ALIAKSANDR DANILEVICH, Roman Catholic Church (Minsk)

Aliaksandr Stanislavavich Danilevich, a parishioner of St Simeon and St Elena parish in Minsk (Red Church), lawyer, and father of many children.

He was detained on 20 May 2022 as part of a criminal case. He was kept in the KGB pre-trial detention centre. He was charged under part 3 of art. 361 (Calls for restrictive measures (sanctions), other actions aimed at causing harm to the national security of Belarus) of the Criminal Code and moved to the pre-trial detention centre (SIZO) no. 1 in Minsk. Shortly before his arrest, Danilevich signed an anti-war appeal of Belarusian lawyers against the war in Ukraine. His decision he explained by faith in God and the desire to follow God’s commandments. Soon after, disciplinary proceedings were initiated against him by the professional body. Danilevich was also dismissed from the Belarusian State University where he taught for more than 20 years at the Faculty of International Relations. A political prisoner. On 10 April 2023 he was sentenced for 10 years in a penal colony.