Ihar Lednik (1960 – 20 February 2024) was a Belarusian opposition activist and political prisoner.
A former member of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (BSDP),[1] he was detained on 12th April 2022 and sentenced initially to a three-year sentence for "insulting" the dictator Alexander Lukashenko by writing an article in the BSDP party magazine.[2][3] In May 2022, the Viasna Human Rights Centre and other Belarusian human rights organizations recognized him as a political prisoner.[4]
According to BSDP party members, Lednik advocated for the abolition of the Union State between Belarus and Russia and believed that the Budapest Memorandum was violated by Belarus. He also believed the 13th Belarusian Supreme Council being discontinued led to the establishment of a dictatorship in Belarus and undermining of security in the region.[3]
He was reportedly routinely abused in prison and of poor health due to heart problems, and eventually died in custody after undergoing an operation of the gastrointestinal tract. It was reported he died of cardiac arrest in a Minsk district hospital, to which he was taken from a colony in Babruysk.[5][6][3]
Fellow Belarusian political activist Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya blamed Belarusian authorities for Ledkin's death. She stated authorities were perfectly aware of his disability when he was sent to the colony, and his name was included in a list of people who should be released due to health or age. She wrote on Telegram about the death, calling it "an injustice and an unbelievable tragedy" and further saying "the regime kills in prison Belarusians who wanted to change life in their country for the better".[3][1]