MINSK -- Two Belarusian journalists have been sentenced to 30 months in prison each amid ongoing crackdown on independent media and democratic institutions.
Judge Anzhela Kastsyukevich pronounced the sentences of Yahor Martsinovich and Andrey Skurko on March 15 after the Zavodzski district court in Minsk found them guilty of paying residential tariffs for utility bills for their Nasha Niva newspaper's offices instead of corporate rates, which are higher.
The journalists paid off the debt for the utilities of $1,060 to the city authorities saying that the mistake arose because the office was in an apartment building.
Martsinovich and Skurko were detained in July last year and initially charged with "organization of actions blatantly violating social order." The charge was later changed to one they were convicted of.
Nasha Niva's website was not accessible for three weeks after their arrest last year. The site resumed its operations on July 29, 2021, after its journalists began working out of Belarus.
Martsinovich and Skurko are two of hundreds who have faced trials linked to mass protests against Alyaksandr Lukashenka, the authoritarian ruler of Belarus, following the vote in August 2020 in which Lukashenka claimed reelection even though many Belarusians say the poll was rigged.
The protests were met with the sometimes-violent detention of tens of thousands of people. Much of the opposition leadership has been jailed or forced into exile. Several protesters have been killed and there have also been credible reports of torture during the widening security crackdown.
Two Belarusian Journalists Sentenced To 30 Months In Prison Each Amid Ongoing Crackdown
Nasha Niva journalists Yahor Martsinovich (left) and Andrey Skurko (composite file photo)