The International Council of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS) has announced that Aliaksandr Danilevich, a member of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), was arrested by Belarusian police on May 20, 2022. In February, Danilevich signed a petition calling for the end to the war in Ukraine.
The ICAS declared their support for their arbitrator, saying that to their knowledge, Danilevich has an exceptional reputation, which makes it “hard to understand that pre-trial restrictions in the form of detention were immediately implemented.”
Danilevich holds a PhD in Law and is a member of the Disciplinary Committee of Rugby Europe. According to his firm’s website, he “has more than 20 years of experience in the legal profession and specializes in representation of clients’ interests in state and international arbitration courts.”
Prior to his arrest, Danilevich faced months of backlash for signing the anti-war petition. He posted on Instagram that he was reprimanded by his colleagues at Council of the Minsk City Bar Association. He disagreed with the council’s opinion that signing the petition “does not fall within the competence of the Belarusian legal profession.”
Danilevich also taught at the Belarusian State University. In April, he posted that the school told him they wouldn’t extend his contract. In his final Instagram post on May 19, the day before his arrest, he said he’d asked for a written explanation to why his contract was ended.
The ICAS said they “[hope] that he will be released soon in order to return to his legal practice and to pursue his missions with the CAS.”
The IOC established the CAS in 1984. The court is an international body that settles disputes related to sport through arbitration. The CAS has jurisdiction over anti-doping rule violations and any dispute related to the Olympics.
Belarus, like Russia, has been barred from most international sporting competitions, including swimming events.
I’m sure he’ll get a fair shake. They’re pretty reasonable in that part of the world right now.
not a lot of hope from Hungary to North Korea on that axis
A Moscow Councillor has been sentenced to 7 years in prison for protesting the war too. The first, of what might be many, in Russia.