Belarus convicts a journalist and sentences him to 3.5 years in prison

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A court in Belarus has convicted a journalist and sentenced him to 3 1/2 years in prison in the latest step against free speech in the country, the Belarusian Association of Journalists reported Thursday.

Kiryl Pazniak, 49, who hosted a popular political show on YouTube, has been convicted on the charges of discrediting Belarus and forming an extremist organization, the group said — accusations widely used by authorities to stifle critical voices. Pazniak has also been ordered to pay a fine, roughly equivalent to $8,500.

Pazniak was arrested in September 2025. His ex-wife Elena said he has fallen seriously ill behind bars, suffering from pneumonia and COVID-19, and was placed in a prison hospital in serious condition.

He has been designated a political prisoner by human rights defenders.

Belarus’ authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, has governed the nation of 9.5 million with an iron fist for more than three decades. The country has been sanctioned repeatedly by Western nations — both for its crackdown on human rights and for allowing Moscow to use its territory in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine that began on Feb. 24, 2022.

Lukashenko’s government was challenged after a 2020 presidential election, when hundreds of thousands took to the streets to protest a vote they viewed as rigged. In an ensuing crackdown, tens of thousands were detained, with many beaten by police. Prominent opposition figures fled the country or were imprisoned.

Since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, Lukashenko has released hundreds of political prisoners as part of American-brokered deals that lifted some U.S. sanctions, part of the isolated leader’s efforts to improve ties with the West.

Human rights groups say, however, that Belarusian authorities have continued their crackdown on dissent. Belarus still has 863 political prisoners, according to the Viasna human rights center.

“Pazniak nearly died behind bars, but was convicted and is forced to continue suffering simply for fulfilling his professional duty,” said Andrei Bastunets, leader of the Belarusian Association of Journalists. “Repressions against journalists in Belarus are not abating, and the situation with freedom of speech remains the worst in Europe.”

A total of 21 journalists remain behind bars in Belarus, according to the group.

The Committee to Protect Journalists reported this week that six Belarusian media outlets in exile regularly face DDoS attacks that aim to overload their websites with traffic and make them impossible to access.

“While it can be difficult to pinpoint those responsible for DDoS attacks, editors and journalists at the outlets targeted in the recent wave told CPJ they believed Belarusian authorities might have sought to squash reporting on particular political topics, including events linked to Belarus’ exiled opposition,” CPJ said in an online statement.