The wife of Andrei Sannikov, an activist arrested for allegedly organizing and participating in a political rally against Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko on 19 December, has herself been handed a suspended sentence, Reuters reported on Monday.

Irina Khalip, correspondent for the Moscow-based Novaya Gazeta and a member of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), was convicted of helping organise the protest on the day of Lukashenko’s disputed re-election. She is currently free, but will be arrested if she is considered to have broken the law within the next 24 months.

Her husband has been sentenced to five years in prison, Reuters reported. Sannikov was the first of five presidential candidates arrested and convicted of organising the mass unrest, to be issued a sentence. Opposition activists Nikolai Statkevich and Dmitry Uss are reportedly on trial on the same charges as Sannikov. Vladimir Neklyayev and Vitaly Rymashevsky are being heard on lesser charges.

The police suppression of the demonstration on 19 December was followed by the detention of hundreds of dissidents and dozens of journalists, some of whom were allegedly kept in KGB investigation wards. Khalip was giving a telephone interview when officials forcibly detained her.

Earlier the same month, the Central European Initiative and the South and East Europe Media Organisation awarded Khalip the CEI SEEMO Award for Outstanding Merits in Investigative Journalism.

In January, IPI called on the European Union to “take a strong stance on the continuing violation in Belarus of fundamental human rights.”

In response to the events in the country, both the EU and United States have imposed restrictions on the president, “including a travel ban on him and 150 associates,” Reuters reported.

IPI Press Freedom Manager Anthony Mills said: “We are concerned that Irina Khalip appears to be paying the price for her activities as a journalist. Although we are thankful that she appears to have been spared actual prison time, no journalist should be arrested and have to stand trial because of their work.”

The South and East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), supports this statement.