Belarus sentences journalist to 4 years in prison, days after release of over 50 political prisoners

A Belarusian court sentenced Tuesday a prominent independent journalist to four years in prison, days after more than 50 political prisoners were released as part of a U.S.-brokered deal. The opposition and rights activists denounced the ruling as part of a continuing crackdown on dissent.

Ihar Ilyash was convicted on extremism charges for articles and commentaries critical of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko’s government. Ilyash rejected the charges, saying in his final remarks at the trial that “freedom of speech isn’t a crime.”

Andrei Bastunets, head of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, said the verdict signaled that the Belarusian authorities had no intention to soften their clampdown on independent media.

“Ilyash’s sentencing shows … Belarus remains the Black Hole of Europe and one of the most dangerous places for journalists,” Bastunets said, noting that at Ilyash is one of at least 27 journalists are currently behind bars in the country. “Repressions against independent journalists are like revolving doors.”

On Thursday, 52 political prisoners were released following a deal brokered by Washington, which lifted some sanctions on the country’s national carrier. The agreement reflected a rapprochement between the U.S. and Belarus, a close ally of Russia that has faced Western isolation for years.

U.S. President Donald Trump spoke to Lukashenko on the phone last month and even suggested that a face-to-face meeting could be in the works. That would be a major win for Lukashenko, who has ruled his nation of 9.5 million with an iron fist for more than three decades. Belarus has faced multiple rounds of Western sanctions for its relentless crackdown on dissent and allowing Moscow to use its territory to invade Ukraine in 2022.

Lukashenko, who has repeatedly released groups of political prisoners as he has sought to mend ties with the West, pardoned another 25 convicts on Tuesday, including some political prisoners.

In the latest sign of warming ties between Washington and Minsk, U.S. military officers attended a joint Russian-Belarusian military exercise in Belarus this week that was shunned by NATO allies in Europe. The drill followed last week’s incursion of Russian drones into Poland, some of which came from Belarus, condemned by Western officials as a reckless provocation.

“The regime’s repressions are continuing despite Trump’s pleas, and the government throws new journalists in prison to fill the cells that have been freed,” Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who was forced to leave the country after challenging Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential vote, told The Associated Press. ”All those journalists have been put in prison just for doing their job and they must be freed.”

Ilyash, who has been in custody since his arrest in October 2024, is married to Katsiaryna Bakhvalava, also a journalist, who has been serving an eight-year sentence on charges of high treason for covering massive protests triggered by the August 2020 presidential election, seen by the opposition and the West as fraudulent.

Lukashenko’s government responded to the demonstrations with a sweeping crackdown in which over 65,000 people were arrested, thousands were beaten by police and hundreds of independent media outlets and nongovernmental organizations were closed and outlawed. Prominent opposition figures either fled the country or were imprisoned.

Belarus now has 1,168 political prisoners, according to the human rights group Viasna, including its founder, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski.