| Siarhei Kavalenka | |
| Native Name: | Сяргей Каваленка |
| Nationality: | Belarusian |
| Citizenship: | Belarus |
| Birth Date: | 16 January 1975 |
| Birth Place: | Vitebsk, BSSR |
| Occupation: | political activist |
| Children: | 2 |
| Party: | Conservative Christian Party |
Siarhei Kavalenka (Belarusian: Сяргей Каваленка, born January 16, 1975) is a Belarusian political activist and member of the Conservative Christian Party sentenced for 2 years in prison after placing a white-red-white flag (i.e. the former Belarusian flag) on top of a Christmas tree in Vitsebsk in 2010.
On January 7, 2010, Kavalenka climbed atop a Christmas tree in the centre of his native Vitsebsk and placed the historical Belarusian white-red-white banner on top of it. The white-red-white banner has been used by the Belarusian independence and pro-democracy movement since 1917 and was the official flag of Belarus in 1918 and from 1991 to 1995. It is now widely used as a symbol of the opposition to president Alexander Lukashenko.
The court gave Kavalenka three years of suspended sentence.[1] The trial got wide coverage in independent Belarusian media. Human rights groups stated that the court's decision was politically motivated.[2] Nasha Niva, a major independent newspaper, placed Siarhey Kavalenka among the most notable people of Belarus in 2010 as the Hero of the Year.[3]
In late 2011 Kavalenka was again arrested and accused of violating the conditions of his suspended sentence. As a protest against the arrest, on 19 December 2010 he started a hunger strike. The hunger strike was interrupted by force-feeding on 16 January 2012.[4]
On February 24 Kavalenka was sentenced to 25 months of prison by judge Elena Zhuk and prosecutor Dmitry Lutov.[5]
After being released from prison in 2013, he moved to Poland.[6]