Since 2010, January 24 has been observed annually as the International Day of the Endangered Lawyer. Organized by a global coalition of national and international legal organizations and bar associations, the event aims to highlight the challenges lawyers face each year in practicing their profession in a specific country and to call for action from government officials, international institutions, civil society, the media, and the public.
In 2025, the International Day of the Endangered Lawyer draws attention to the persecution of lawyers in Belarus who face systematic unlawful interference in their professional activities. Evidence shows a consistent trend in Belarus, where lawyers face escalating criminal sanctions and arbitrary detention [1].
The General Council of the International Association of Russian Advocates, supporting fellow lawyers from Belarus and the Coalition for International Day of the Endangered Lawyer, declares the inadmissibility of politically motivated unlawful prosecution of lawyers for the exercise of their professional activities and the need to intensify joint activities for their release and rehabilitation.
We appeal to the United Nations, international and national associations of lawyers and jurists, and human rights organizations to condemn the persecution of lawyers in Belarus and other countries. We urge these groups to take concrete steps to protect legal professionals and support their efforts to uphold justice.
Considering the difficult situation faced by the lawyers of the Russian Federation[2], we suggest that the Coalition for the International Day of the Endangered Lawyer dedicate the following event to the situation of illegal harassment of lawyers in Russia.
[1] https://defendlawyers.wordpress.com/2025/01/22/belarus-day-of-the-endangered-lawyer-jan-24-report-executive-summary-english-russian
[2] https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/obraschenie-pravleniya-mezhregionalnoy-obschestvennoy-organizatsii-advokatov-i-yuristov-initsiativa-2018-v-organy-organizatsii ; https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/about-the-appeal-of-the-board-of-the-interregional-public-organization-of-advocates-and-lawyers-initiative-2018-to-the-united
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