Belarus: lawyer Yuliya Yurgilevich and journalist Pavel Mazheika unjustly sentenced to six years in prison

Belarus: lawyer Yuliya Yurgilevich and journalist Pavel Mazheika unjustly sentenced to six years in prison

Today, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has condemned the unjust conviction and sentencing of prominent Belarus lawyer, Yuliya Yurgilevich, and journalist, Pavel Mazheika, to six years’ imprisonment on trumped up charges.

Yurgilevich, who has practised law for almost 18 years and has a record of defending human rights activists, was accused of publicizing her disbarment and providing Mazheika with information on political prisoners in Belarus, notably on dissident artist Ales Pushkin, who was recognized as a political prisoner by a number of leading human rights groups, and who died in a Belarusian prison of an unknown cause earlier this month.

Belarus: Attacks on independent lawyers continue unabated

Belarus: Attacks on independent lawyers continue unabated

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) condemns the ongoing attacks against independent lawyers in Belarus, a number of whom are facing disbarment, arbitrary prosecution, and other forms of harassment by authorities as they perform their professional duties and exercise their right to freedom of expression.

Belarus: Bar Association should reinstate disbarred lawyer Natalia Matskevich

Belarus: Bar Association should reinstate disbarred lawyer Natalia Matskevich

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE), Lawyers for Lawyers (L4L), European Association of Lawyers (AEA-EAL), Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR) and the Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights of the European Humanity University (CCHR EHU) and the Human Rights Embassy (HRE) (“the undersigned organisations”) call on the Bar Association of Belarus to reverse its decisions to disbar lawyer Natalia Matskevich and to end the practice of disbarment of lawyers for carrying out their professional duties in line with international law and standards on the role of lawyers.

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