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Belarus court sentences two journalists to two years in jail

For 'fomenting protests' against strongman leader Lukashenko

18 February, 10:16
(ANSA-AFP) - MINSK, FEB 18 - A court in Belarus on Thursday sentenced two journalists to two years in prison on charges of fomenting protests against strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko. Authorities in the ex-Soviet country are pursuing a number of criminal cases against activists and journalists in the wake of months of anti-government protests last year. The demonstrations swept Belarus after Lukashenko claimed a landslide victory in an August election that the opposition and many Western countries said was fraudulent. In response, the authorities unleashed a mass crackdown, which left at least four protesters dead, thousands in jail and hundreds claiming torture in custody. Poland-based opposition television station Belsat reported Thursday that the two journalists, Katerina Bakhvalova, 27, and Daria Chultsova, 23, were sentenced for leading "group actions that grossly violate public order" while filming a November rally in support of a dead anti-government protester.

(ANSA-AFP).

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