Human rights defender Leonid Sudalenko has been released after serving his prison term.

On July 21st, Leonid Sudalenka, a human rights defender of the "Viasna" from Homel, was released from Vitsebsk colony №3 after serving his full sentence. On November 3rd, 2021, he was sentenced to three years of imprisonment under parts 1 and 2 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code, which pertains to the organization and preparation of actions that severely violate public order, as well as training and preparing individuals to participate in such actions, along with their financing or other material support.

Leonid (the head of the Homel branch of the unregistered human rights center "Viasna") and his assistant Maria Tarasenka were considered political prisoners.

Leonid Sudalenko has been defending human rights for 20 years, he is a well-known specialist in Belarus and abroad. His activities included the preparation of individual appeals to the UN Human Rights Committee concerning violations of citizens' rights by the Belarusian authorities. His dedication to human rights work earned him the prestigious “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” Human Rights Prize of the French Republic in 2018, and in 2019, he was awarded the 2019 National Human Rights Award in the category of "Human Rights Defender of the Year."

Due to his active human rights activities, the Belarusian authorities have persistently persecuted Leonid Sudalenka. They organized provocations against him, put him on watchlists for border crossings, and attempted to discredit him through publications on websites controlled by state bodies and special services.