Belarus journalist is convicted of treason and jailed for 10 years as crackdown on dissent continues

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Belarusian journalist was convicted of treason and revealing state secrets and was sentenced to 10 years in prison after a closed trial, a media group said Friday, the eve of the fifth anniversary of a disputed election that kept authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko in power and unleashed mass protests.

Danil Palianski, who worked for several independent news agencies, was sentenced on July 25, but the trial’s outcome was only revealed Friday by the Belarusian Association of Journalists. In addition to the prison sentence, Palianski was fined the equivalent of about $7,000.

“Belarus has already become the black hole of Europe, where people are judged for words and thoughts,” said BAJ leader Andrei Bastunets.

Palianski, who was detained in September, is one of 37 journalists behind bars in Belarus.

https://apnews.com/article/belarus-repression-media-journalism-43b12ef76332906fbea728eda2cfa8ed