CCPR/C/139/D/3095/2018
United Nations
International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights
Distr.: General
12 February 2024
Original: English
Human Rights Committee
Views adopted by the Committee under article 5 (4)
of the Optional Protocol, concerning communication
No. 3095/2018*, **
Communication submitted by:
Pavel Katorzhevsky (represented by counsel,
Leonid Sudalenko)
Alleged victim:
The author
State party:
Belarus
Date of communication:
7 June 2017 (initial submission)
Document references:
Decision taken pursuant to rule 92 of the
Committee’s rules of procedure, transmitted to
the State party on 8 January 2018 (not issued in
document form)
Date of adoption of Views:
13 October 2023
Subject matter:
Conviction for distribution of extremist materials
for sharing an article criticizing authorities
Procedural issue:
Exhaustion of domestic remedies
Substantive issues:
Freedom of expression
Articles of the Covenant:
2 (2) and (3) and 19 (2) and (3)
Articles of the Optional Protocol:
2 and 5 (2) (b)
1.1
The author of the communication is Pavel Katorzhevsky, a Belarusian national born
in 1995. He claims that the State party has violated his rights under article 2 (2) and (3), read
in conjunction with article 19 (2) and (3), of the Covenant. The Optional Protocol entered
into force for the State party on 30 December 1992. The author is represented by counsel.
1.2
The present communication was submitted for consideration before the State party’s
denunciation of the Optional Protocol became effective on 8 February 2023. In accordance
with article 12 (2) of the Optional Protocol and the Committee’s previous case law, the State
* Adopted by the Committee at its 139th session (9 October–3 November 2023).
** The following members of the Committee participated in the examination of the communication:
Tania María Abdo Rocholl, Farid Ahmadov, Wafaa Ashraf Moharram Bassim, Rodrigo A. Carazo,
Yvonne Donders, Mahjoub El Haiba, Carlos Gómez Martínez, Laurence R. Helfer, Marcia V.J. Kran,
Bacre Waly Ndiaye, Hernán Quezada Cabrera, José Manuel Santos Pais, Soh Changrok, Tijana
Šurlan, Kobauyah Tchamdja Kpatcha, Teraya Koji, Hélène Tigroudja and Imeru Tamerat Yigezu.
GE.24-01139 (E)
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