Current:Home > BackBelarusian journalist goes on trial for covering protests, faces up to 6 years in prison-LoTradeCoin
Belarusian journalist goes on trial for covering protests, faces up to 6 years in prison
View Date:2024-12-23 16:49:04
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Belarusian journalist went on trial Friday on charges linked to his professional work covering protests, the latest move in a relentless government crackdown on dissent.
Photojournalist Alyaksandr Zyankou faces up to six years in prison if convicted on charges of “participation in an extremist group” at Minsk City Court. Such accusations have been widely used by authorities to target opposition members, civil society activists and independent journalists.
Zyankou has been in custody since his arrest in June, and his health has deteriorated behind bars, according to the independent Belarusian Association of Journalists.
“Zyankou was just taking pictures to chronicle brutal repressions in Belarus, but the authorities hate anyone speaking about or taking images of political terror in the country,” said the association’s head, Andrei Bastunets. “Belarus is the most repressive country in Europe, where an attempt at free speech is punished by prison.”
A total of 33 Belarusian journalists are currently in prison, either awaiting trial or serving sentences.
Belarusian authorities have cracked down on opponents of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko after huge protests triggered by the August 2020 election that gave him a sixth term in office. The balloting was viewed by the opposition and the West as fraudulent.
Protests swept the country for months, bringing hundreds of thousands into the streets. More than 35,000 people were arrested, thousands were beaten in police custody and hundreds of independent media outlets and nongovernmental organizations were shut down and outlawed.
More than 1,400 political prisoners remain behind bars, including leaders of opposition parties and renowned human rights advocate and 2022 Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski.
Human Rights Watch strongly condemned the crackdown on dissent and free speech.
“Over the past year, Belarusian authorities doubled down to create an information vacuum around raging repressions by cutting political prisoners off from the outside world and bullying their lawyers and families into silence,” Anastasiia Kruope, assistant Europe and Central Asia researcher at the group, said in a statement Thursday. “Widespread repression continues in an expanding information void.”
veryGood! (36)
Related
- Jamie Lee Curtis and Don Lemon quit X, formerly Twitter: 'Time for me to leave'
- Get $135 Worth of Tarte Cosmetics Products for Just $59 Before This Deal Sells Out
- Some bars are playing a major role in fighting monkeypox in the LGBTQ community
- See Kylie Jenner and Stormi Webster’s Sweet Matching Moment at New York Fashion Party
- When do new episodes of 'Cobra Kai' Season 6 come out? Release date, cast, where to watch
- Makeup That May Improve Your Skin? See What the Hype Is About and Save $30 on Bareminerals Products
- InsideClimate News Celebrates 10 Years of Hard-Hitting Journalism
- Seeing God’s Hand in the Deadly Floods, Yet Wondering about Climate Change
- Patrick Mahomes Breaks Silence on Frustrating Robbery Amid Ongoing Investigation
- Flash Deal: Save $621 on the Aeropilates Reformer Machine
Ranking
- Where you retire could affect your tax bill. Here's how.
- Maurice Edwin James “Morey” O’Loughlin
- Today’s Climate: May 11, 2010
- Jamie Foxx Breaks Silence After Suffering Medical Emergency
- See Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani's Winning NFL Outing With Kids Zuma and Apollo
- King Charles III Can Carry On This Top-Notch Advice From Queen Elizabeth II
- The Masked Singer's UFO Revealed as This Beauty Queen
- From a March to a Movement: Climate Events Stretch From Sea to Rising Sea
Recommendation
-
Pennsylvania House Republicans pick new floor leader after failing to regain majority
-
Trump-appointed federal judge rules Tennessee law restricting drag shows is unconstitutional
-
Henry Shaw
-
Once-Rare Flooding Could Hit NYC Every 5 Years with Climate Change, Study Warns
-
Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul referee handled one of YouTuber's biggest fights
-
Allison Holker Shares How Her 3 Kids Are Coping After Stephen “tWitch” Boss’ Death
-
16 migrants flown to California on chartered jet and left outside church: Immoral and disgusting
-
Today’s Climate: May 21, 2010