In Belarus, four critical journalists and activists were sentenced on Friday to prison sentences of between ten and twelve years. This is reported by international news agencies. All four openly criticized President Alexander Lukashenko.
Two of the convicted critics, Marina Zolotova and Lyudmila Chekina, worked for the journalistic website Tut.by. They were arrested in May 2021, according to tax avoidance authorities. In 2022, Belarus labeled the medium, which made critical stories about the government, as an extremist organization. Both women have now both been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
In a separate case, think-tank leader Valeria Kasciuhova and political scientist Tatsiana Kuzina were sentenced to 10 years in prison. The women allegedly pleaded guilty to “assisting attempts to seize power in an unconstitutional manner”.
impunity
In Belarus it has long been made difficult for people who criticize the government. After Lukashenko was re-elected in 2020 in an election that has been internationally labeled as fraudulent, major protests erupted in the country. Authorities reacted harshly to the protests, prosecuting activists, journalists and other critics. Earlier this month, activist and Nobel Prize winner Ales Bialiatski was also sentenced to ten years in prison.
Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, reacts critically to the conviction of the journalists and activists. He speaks of “an unacceptable picture of impunity and the almost complete destruction of civil space and fundamental freedoms in Belarus”.
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