A court in Belarus has convicted two independent journalists on charges of high treason, sentencing them to lengthy prison terms in the latest move of a government crackdown on dissent and free speech, a media rights group said on Friday.
Uladzimir Yanukevich, 65, founder and editor of the Intex-Press and BAR24 media outlets, received a 14-year sentence, while his colleague Andrei Pakalenka, 44, was handed 12 years. The rights group noted that their media sites were among the most popular in Belarus. The Regional Court in Brest held proceedings behind closed doors, with details of the charges remaining unclear. State television carried a report alleging the journalists had links to the German Embassy.
Andrei Bastunets, head of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, condemned the sentences. “These horrific sentences show that the authorities have no intention of halting the most sweeping repressions against journalists in Europe, now in its sixth year,” he told the Associated Press. “Any dissent is harshly punished by the authorities.” The association also reported that Yanukevich, who has serious health issues, has been denied proper medical assistance while in custody.
President Alexander Lukashenko has ruled Belarus for over three decades, maintaining power through a relentless crackdown on dissent. Following the widely disputed 2020 election, hundreds of thousands protested, with more than 65,000 arrests, thousands beaten, and hundreds of independent media outlets and NGOs closed. Currently, 28 independent journalists are imprisoned in Belarus, according to Bastunets’ group.
Yanukevich and Pakalenka were among seven Intex-Press journalists arrested in December 2024 after searches of their offices and homes. In August 2025, four of them were convicted of aiding “extremist activities” and sentenced to a work-release programme. On Friday, the Minsk City Court also opened a trial of another independent journalist, Pavel Dabravolski, who faces high treason charges and has been in custody since January 2025.
Exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said, “Journalism is not a crime, and the convicted journalists are victims of the authorities who are building a totalitarian state. Lukashenko’s regime fears the truth more than anything.” Belarus has faced Western isolation and sanctions for its crackdown and for allowing Russia to use its territory in the Ukraine invasion. While Lukashenko has recently sought to repair relations by releasing hundreds of political prisoners, the Viasna human rights group reports that Belarus currently holds 1,143 political prisoners.
