"An English solicitor is looking at you," - this is how the post of a former political prisoner and an attorney begins on social media. Ilya Saley was detained on September 9, 2020. In August 2021, after his pre-trial detention was changed to bail, Ilya Saley secretly left Belarus and started working in London.
Ilya shares details of the process of obtaining solicitor status: exams, identity verification, additional explanations, why an attorney cannot work in Belarus, and why a criminal case was initiated against him.
"Why? Desire to develop and personal ambitions — undoubtedly. It would be worse if they were not there. And also the desire to show what we, Belarusian attorneys, are capable of, and that nothing is impossible, even if you have been deprived of the right to live in your own country. After all, my case is not unique at all. To show who we are means to continue to speak up for those who today are deprived of this opportunity because of their principled professional and human qualities."
Ilya shares details of the process of obtaining solicitor status: exams, identity verification, additional explanations, why an attorney cannot work in Belarus, and why a criminal case was initiated against him.
"Why? Desire to develop and personal ambitions — undoubtedly. It would be worse if they were not there. And also the desire to show what we, Belarusian attorneys, are capable of, and that nothing is impossible, even if you have been deprived of the right to live in your own country. After all, my case is not unique at all. To show who we are means to continue to speak up for those who today are deprived of this opportunity because of their principled professional and human qualities."
