August 20, Pozirk. The Hrodna Regional Court has sentenced journalist Uładzimir Chilmanovič to five years in prison and a fine of 40,000 rubels (some $12,300) without the defendant being present, Haradzienskaja Pravaabarona reported.
The judge found him guilty of facilitating extremism, apparently for working for media outlets critical of the Belarusian government. Authorities sealed off his summer cottage and Hrodna apartment, preparing the properties for seizure.
Investigators opened the special procedure case against Chilmanovič in March.
On December 1, law enforcers searched his wife’s apartment, where he had lived between 2014 and 2021, seizing a hard drive, books, newspapers and other items.
