July 11 – Belarus, a supporter of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on a government level, have arrested leading sports lawyer and Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) adjudicator Prof. Aliaksandr Danilevich.
It is an arrest that may prompt sports governing bodies to review their positions on Belarus where they are still allowing them to engage in international competition.
Danilevich was arrested on 20 May 2022 by the Belarusian police. At the end of February 2022, he co-signed a statement calling for the immediate end to the hostilities in Ukraine.
In March, the UEFA Executive Committee decided that “since the invasion of the Ukrainian territory by the Russian army had been facilitated by access given from the neighbouring territory of Belarus, no UEFA competition match shall be played on the territory of Belarus until further notice and no spectators shall attend matches in which the teams from Belarus features as host.”
In May UEFA decided to prevent teams from Belarus and Ukraine from being drawn against each other in any future UEFA competitions with immediate effect.
CAS issued a statement saying that to its “knowledge, the professional reputation of Prof. Danilevich, who was also a member of the Disciplinary Committee of Rugby Europe, has always been impeccable. Therefore, it is particularly hard to understand that pre-trial restrictions in the form of detention were immediately implemented after the investigation started.”
The CAS statement went further saying Danilevich is being held as a political prisoner and calling for his early release and return to domestic and international legal appointments in sports.
“The ICAS expresses its most serious concerns with respect to Prof. Danilevich’s situation as a political prisoner. The ICAS very much hopes that he will be released soon in order to return to his legal practice and to pursue his missions with the CAS,” said the CAS statement.
Meanwhile, Russia, who Belarus has facilitated and now seems to be partnering in the Ukraine invasion, is hoping for a fair hearing at CAS for its national and club sides.
It seems that the Russian and Belarusian respect for law and its senior advocates only applies when it is in their political favour.
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