Activists Condemn Jailing Belarus Journalist
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
PARIS/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has decried Belarusian authorities for sentencing journalist Yury Hladchuk to 2.5 years in prison.
“The opacity around the trial and sentencing of Belarusian journalist Yury Hladchuk shows that the Belarusian authorities continue to target journalists in the shadows, far from public scrutiny,” said Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director, in New York.
“Belarusian authorities should not contest Hladchuk’s appeal, drop all charges against him, and release him along with all other imprisoned journalists,” he told Worthy News.
In December 2022, a court in the capital Minsk convicted Hladchuk of “insulting“ Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko. He was also found guilty of “organizing or participating in gross violations of public order” and jailed for more than two years.
Hladchuk’s appeal is scheduled for February 28, Worthy News learned.
Authorities detained Hladchuk, a content editor for ABW.by, a leading automobile news website, along with the outlet’s chief editor Yuliya Mudreuskaya, in June 2022.
In September 2022, Mudreuskaya was sentenced to 1.5 years in a prison colony for allegedly participating in protests, CPJ said.
“Belarus is one of the world’s worst jailers of journalists,” CPj said, citing its 2022 prison census.
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