KYIV (Reuters) – A Belarusian court sentenced two Belarusian journalists from Poland-based TV news channel Belsat to two years in prison on Thursday, after authorities arrested them for live filming protests against President Alexander Lukashenko.
Katsiaryna Andreyeva, 27, and Darya Chultsova, 23, were detained in an apartment in November from where they had been filming protests taking place over the death of a protester who was killed several days earlier.
Both women pleaded not guilty after being accused of orchestrating the demonstrations by filming them. As material evidence, the prosecution had presented a video camera, a microphone, mobile phones, flash drives and press jackets.
More than 33,000 people have been detained in a violent crackdown on protests against Lukashenko’s rule following a contested election last August that his opponents say was rigged to extend his rule. He has been in office since 1994.
The crackdown prompted Western countries to impose new sanctions on Minsk. Lukashenko has refused to step down, buttressed by support from Moscow, which sees Belarus as a buffer state against the European Union and NATO.
(This story corrects to show journalists are Belarusians working for a Poland-based broadcaster)
(Editing by Matthias Williams; editing by John Stonestreet)
