The IPI global network today condemns the prison sentences handed to Belarusian journalists Ales Sabaleuski and Yauhen Hlushkou, who were arrested in December 2023 and found guilty on politically motivated charges.

In addition to their prison sentences, the journalists were obliged to pay a fine of 8000 Belarusian rubles (approximately 2270 euros) each. They were found guilty of participating in an “extremist formation”, as well as, for unclear reasons, of acting as mercenaries or as part of a mercenary group.

The journalists’ sentences likely stem from their links with local news outlet 6tv.by, which is no longer active and which authorities in Belarus designated as an “extremist formation” in December 2023.

Sabaleuski and Hlushkou both come from the city of Mahilou, where they worked for local independent outlets before the extensive crackdown on Belarusian civil society in the wake of the 2020-21 mass protest movement in the country, in which Belarusians opposed the reelection of Alexander Lukashenko.

According to the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), a trade union in exile, Sabaleuski previously worked for online outlet 6tv.by. As for Hlushkou, he was known to have worked for the municipal TV channel of Mahilou and other local online news websites at the beginning of the 2000s, but not to have engaged in media activity in recent years.

“30 years after his first election in 1994, and four years since mass protests at which dozens of Belarusian journalists were jailed while reporting, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko continues his never-ending crusade against independent media and civil society at large, today by sentencing two more journalists to prison,” said IPI Interim Director Scott Griffen. “Belarusian legislation allows for the indiscriminate arrest and jailing of anyone who disagrees with the country’s leader. As a result, thousands of Belarusians are currently behind bars on politically motivated charges. Once again, IPI demands their release.”

Soon after his detention in December 2023, Sabaleuski was sentenced to a short-term, 10-day arrest period. While behind bars, he was sentenced to another, similar arrest term on charges of “disseminating extremist materials”. However, he was not released after the end of this second period and was instead transferred to a pre-trial detention center.

Sabaleuski was beaten during his interrogation, with traces of torture visible on his body, according to unidentified sources quoted by BAJ. The violence would have been linked to attempts by investigators to have the journalist confess to having worked with 6tv.by. At the time of his arrest, he reportedly no longer worked with the media, having retired from journalism and moved to work in the service industry.

Freelance videographer Yauhen Hlushkou was arrested at the beginning of January 2024 and was placed in a pre-trial detention center. BAJ reported that the details of his case became known when a pro-government Telegram channel published a video of the journalist’s forced confession, in which he admitted that he previously worked with 6tv.by, just like Sabaleuski.

According to monitoring by BAJ, no fewer than 37 journalists are currently behind bars in Belarus, making the country one of the worst jailers of journalists in the world.