Advocating for the rule of law in Belarus

Like others in Harvard Law School’s LL.M. class of 2013, Maryna Kavaleuskaya practiced law abroad before coming to America for additional legal training. And, like many of her 187 classmates—most of them from overseas—she had to overcome obstacles along the way.

But unlike most others, Kavaleuskaya will be unable to return to a normal life back home after she receives her Harvard degree.

Kavaleuskaya, a Belarussian lawyer who dared to represent the jailed presidential challenger Andrei Sannikov and other political prisoners before she made it to Harvard, has endured retaliatory attempts by the Belarus regime to intimidate her, restrict her travel, and threaten her safety.

That’s why, in a talk at HLS on April 3, she expressed an earnest hope that her classmates will continue the work she started, after they return to their own countries. “I trust in your great potential,” she told them. “I know that one day some of you will be making decisions which could influence the situation in Belarus. Every person has a right to live in a country where the rule of law is not in question. This is our mission, this is why we chose the profession or maybe were chosen by it.”

Read the full story on the Harvard Law School website.