Journalists in Belarus receive 30 months each in prison amid ongoing crackdown

Nasha Niva journalists Yahor Martsinovich and Andrey Skurko.

As part of ongoing crackdowns on independent media and democratic institutions, two Belarusian journalists have each been sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Anzhela Kastsyukevich delivered the sentences to Yahor Martsinovich and Andrey Skurko on March 15 after the Zavodzski district court in Minsk ruled that they had paid residential utility rates instead of corporate rates for their offices at Nasha Niva instead of corporate rates, which are higher.

They paid off $1,060 in utility debt to the city authorities, claiming the mistake happened because their office was located in an apartment building.

Martsinovich and Skurko were arrested last July and initially charged with "organization of actions blatantly violating social order." The charge was later changed to one for which they were convicted.

After their arrest last year, New Shaka Niva's website was inaccessible for three weeks. It resumed its operations on July 29, 2021, after its journalists began working in Belarus.

Martsinovich and Skurko are among hundreds of people who have faced trials following mass protests against Belarus' authoritarian ruler, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, after his reelection in August 2020, which many Belarusians believe was rigged.

Tens of thousands of protestors were detained sometimes violently during the protests. Much of the opposition has been imprisoned or forced into exile. There have been credible reports of torture as well as the deaths of protesters during the broad security crackdown.

Despite Western sanctions, Lukashenko has held onto power with strong support from his main ally and sponsor, Russia, which used the Belarusian territory to launch an invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

“We upheld the freedom of speech and independence of Belarus, but both have now become hollow,” Martsinovich said in a speech at his trial. “The newspaper has survived two revolutions and two world wars during its history, and now it’s witnessing another war into which Belarus was drawn. We are its victims.”