Belarus court jails journalist for four years for criticizing authoritarian president

Associated Press

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Belarusian journalist has been handed a prison sentence for critical reports chronicling a sweeping crackdown on dissent launched by the country’s authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. The Minsk City Court convicted Volha Radzivonava on Tuesday on charges of “insulting the president” and “discrediting Belarus” and sentenced her to four years in prison. Radzivonava, who worked for KYKY.org news portal before it was shut downs, has been in custody since March. The authorities responded to massive protests sparked by the widely disputed 2020 vote that gave Lukashenko a sixth term in office with a brutal crackdown in which about 65,000 people were arrested.