A court in Belarus has convicted two independent journalists on charges of high treason and handed them long prison sentences, the latest move in the government’s crackdown on dissent and free speech, a media rights group said Friday.
Uladzimir Yanukevich, 65, who founded and edited the Intex-Press and BAR24 media outlets, was given a 14-year sentence, while his 44-year-old colleague Andrei Pakalenka was handed a 12-year sentence, the rights group said. Their media sites were among the most popular in Belarus.
The Regional Court in Brest, a city on the border with Poland, held the proceedings behind closed doors and details of the charges remain unclear. State television carried a report alleging the journalists had links to the German Embassy.
“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,” Belarusian Association of Journalists head Andrei Bastunets told The Associated Press. “Any dissent is harshly punished by the authorities.”
Yanukevich, who has serious health issues, has been denied proper medical assistance while in custody. the association said.
President Alexander Lukashenko has ruled Belarus for over three decades, maintaining his grip on power through a relentless crackdown on dissent. Following a 2020 election that was widely seen as rigged, hundreds of thousands took to the streets in protest, with more than 65,000 people arrested, thousands beaten, and hundreds of independent media outlets and nongovernmental organizations closed and outlawed.
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 editorial offices and homes. In August 2025, four of them were convicted of aiding “extremist activities” and sentenced to a kind of work-release program at designated factories.
Accusations of extremism are widely used by the Belarusian authorities to muzzle independent voices.
Also on Friday, the Minsk City Court opened a trial of another independent journalist, Pavel Dabravolski, who also faces charges of high treason. Dabravolski, who has worked for Belarusian and international media outlets, has been in custody since his arrest in January 2025.
“Journalism is not a crime, and the convicted journalists are victims of the authorities who are building a totalitarian state,” exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told AP. “Lukashenko’s regime fears the truth more than anything.”
Belarus has faced years of Western isolation and sanctions for its crackdown and for allowing Moscow to use its territory in the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Recently, Lukashenko has sought to repair relations with the West, releasing hundreds of political prisoners.
At the same time, the Belarusian authorities have continued their suppression of dissent. According to the Viasna human rights group, Belarus currently has 1,143 political prisoners.
