Supreme Court rejects appeal by media manager Janukievič

June 9, Pozirk. The Supreme Court upheld the 14-year prison sentence imposed on media manager Uładzimir Janukievič, who was convicted of high treason earlier this year, the Belarusian Association of Journalists reported.
His associate Andrej Pakalenka’s sentence on similar charges was reduced from 12 to 11 years in prison.
Both journalists were associated with the BAR24 and Intex Press media in Baranavičy, Brest region. Their persecution reflects a broader crackdown on independent Belarusian media and journalists, rights groups noted, after designating Janukievič and Pakalenka as political prisoners.
Janukievič, 65, and Pakalenka, 44, served as CEO and deputy CEO of the local newspaper Intex-Press, designated as “extremist content” by authorities in April 2023. The designation followed a police raid on the newspaper’s office on February 15, 2023, in which law enforcement officers seized all computers and cameras. Janukievič and Pakalenka went on to launch the news website bar24.by, but were arrested in December 2024.
Currently, at least 21 media workers are held behind bars in Belarus, according to BAJ.
One in five political prisoners in high-risk category, Viasna says
- SocietyBySol raises nearly €37,000 for recently freed dissidentsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsOpposition politician Viačorka looking forward to establishment of Belarus-Ukraine coordinating groupThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsCichanoŭskaja leaves for New York to take part in UN eventsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Security, SocietyParticipants at Belarusian-Ukrainian forum in Kyiv vow to investigate transfers of Ukrainian children to BelarusThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityUkraine will probably deal with Belarus-based relay systems for Russian drone attacks in non-public way, envoy saysThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy, PoliticsCichanoŭskaja welcomes new US sanctions against RussiaThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsTen of 25 deported political prisoners move from Lithuania to PolandThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecuritySwitzerland aligns itself with EU’s April package of sanctions against BelarusThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyŁukašenka threatens officials with prison for failing to pull flax properlyThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy, SecurityEconomy ministry promises help to Belarusian businesses affected by Wildberries warehouse fires in RussiaThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityIrregular migrants return to Lithuanian border after US envoy leaves VilniusThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Interior ministry labels 11 people as “extremists”The material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- EconomyMinsk, Minsk region account for half of GDP since JanuaryThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityBelarus, Azerbaijan reaffirm intentions to expand military tiesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- SocietyExpert: support for Belarusian independent media to boost regional securityThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyPolish border guards arrest harvester driver suspected of cigarette smugglingThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- PoliticsWashington lifts sanctions on Biełlesbumpram, ŁakafarbaThe material is available only to POZIRK+



