2 journalists in Belarus sentenced to prison for covering protest
Two journalists in Belarus were convicted Thursday of violating public order and sentenced to two years in prison after they covered a protest against authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Katsiaryna Bakhvalava, 27, who also goes by the last name of Andreyeva, and Daria Chultsova, 23, both of the Polish-funded Belsat TV channel, were arrested in November after police broke down the door of a Minsk apartment where they doing a live stream of a demonstration in the Belarusian capital.
Addressing the court before the verdict, Bakhvalava vowed to continue working for “building a Belarus that won’t have political repressions.”
“I’m not pleading. I’m demanding acquittal for me and my colleagues,” she said, referring to other jailed journalists.
The two were charged with “organizing actions rudely violating public order” — accusations they denied.
The U.S. Embassy condemned “the political convictions and egregious prison sentences” for the journalists and urged authorities in Belarus “to cease the persecution and prosecution of journalists and media outlets for covering the news.”
“The United States reiterates that Belarusian authorities have a commitment to protect and uphold fundamental freedoms, especially those of assembly, speech, and the press,” it said in a statement.
More than 400 journalists have been detained in Belarus in the last six months, and at least 10 have faced criminal charges and remain in custody.
“We consider the sentence politically motivated, its goal is to scare all journalists to prevent them from fulfilling their professional duty to cover socially important events in the country,” the Belarusian Association of Journalists said. “That effectively amounts to a professional ban.”
The International Federation of Journalists denounced the ruling as “shameful and totally unfounded.”
“Today’s verdict is a clear attack on press freedom and we all stand together against this mockery of justice,” federation president Younes Mjahed said in a statement.
Belarus has been rocked by protests after official results from the Aug. 9 presidential election gave Lukashenko a sixth term in office by a landslide. The opposition and some poll workers have said the election was rigged.