Ernst Sabila
Belarusian Protestant religious leader (1932–2022)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ernst (Ernest) Sabila (Belarusian: Эрнст Сабіла or Эрнэст Сабіла, 18 March 1932 – 5 February 2022) was a Belarusian Protestant religious leader, dissident and Gulag survivor.
Biography
Born in the village of Dziehciarouka (now part of Minsk District), SSR Belarus, USSR, he studied at the Minsk Medical Institute.[1]
In 1951, while still a student, he was arrested by Soviet authorities and accused of religious and nationalist propaganda. He was sentenced to death.[2]
In 1964, after 13 years in a Gulag labour camp, Ernst Sabila was released and returned to religious activism in Belarus. From the moment of his release, he was under constant surveillance of the KGB.[2]
In 1988, he became presbyter of the Evangelian church of Belarus. In 1989, pastor Sabila took part in the founding conference of the Belarusian Popular Front.[3]
From the late 2000s until his death, Sabila was among the members of the revived Belarusian Christian Democracy. He died on 5 February 2022, at the age of 89.[4]
