Belarusian authorities have convicted the chief editor of a prominent independent regional newspaper of “discrediting the Republic of Belarus” and sentenced him to four years in prison.
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarusian authorities on Friday convicted the chief editor of a prominent independent regional newspaper of “discrediting the Republic of Belarus” and sentenced him to four years in prison, as the country continues its crackdown on dissent.
The authorities accused Mantsevich and his newspaper of using content that had been declared extremist — a label loosely applied in recent years to any materials critical of the Belarusian government.
Belarus was rocked by mass protests after a disputed presidential election in which authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner, giving him a sixth term in office.
The protests lasted for months, the largest and most prolonged show of dissent since Lukashenko came to power in 1994 and began repressing independent news media and opposition.
Mantsevich, 65, was detained in March 2023 and has spent eight months in pre-trial detention, where his health significantly deteriorated, the Viasna human rights group reported.
“I’m not a dreamer, but I’m sure that at some point in the city (of Molodechno) will appear a street named after our newspaper, which strengthened the authority of the Belarusian people, lived through the concerns of our readers and wrote the truth,” he said.
The original article contains 422 words, the summary contains 198 words. Saved 53%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
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TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarusian authorities on Friday convicted the chief editor of a prominent independent regional newspaper of “discrediting the Republic of Belarus” and sentenced him to four years in prison, as the country continues its crackdown on dissent.
The authorities accused Mantsevich and his newspaper of using content that had been declared extremist — a label loosely applied in recent years to any materials critical of the Belarusian government.
Belarus was rocked by mass protests after a disputed presidential election in which authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner, giving him a sixth term in office.
The protests lasted for months, the largest and most prolonged show of dissent since Lukashenko came to power in 1994 and began repressing independent news media and opposition.
Mantsevich, 65, was detained in March 2023 and has spent eight months in pre-trial detention, where his health significantly deteriorated, the Viasna human rights group reported.
“I’m not a dreamer, but I’m sure that at some point in the city (of Molodechno) will appear a street named after our newspaper, which strengthened the authority of the Belarusian people, lived through the concerns of our readers and wrote the truth,” he said.
The original article contains 422 words, the summary contains 198 words. Saved 53%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!