Belarus convicts a journalist and sentences him to 3.5 years in prison

A court in Belarus convicted journalist Kiryl Pazniak and sentenced him to 3.5 years in prison on charges of discrediting the country and forming an extremist organization. Pazniak, arrested in September 2025, is seriously ill in prison and designated a political prisoner, with 21 journalists currently detained in Belarus and 863 political prisoners reported by the Viasna human rights center.