BelaPAN editor in chief, former CEO 500 days behind bars

December 30, BPN. BelaPAN editor in chief Iryna Leŭšyna and former CEO Dźmitryj Navažyłaŭ have spent 500 days behind bars.

Police arrested them on August 18, 2021.

On October 6, the Minsk Regional Court sentenced Leŭšyna to four years in prison; Navažyłaŭ, to six years; former deputy CEO Andrej Alaksandraŭ, to 14 years; his wife Iryna Złobina, to nine years.

On top of that, the judge fined Navažyłaŭ 22,400 rubels (some $8,900), Złobina 25,600 rubels and Alaksandraŭ 32,000 rubels.

Authorities accused them of creating an extremist group (Alaksandraŭ, Leŭšyna, Navažyłaŭ), high treason (Alaksandraŭ, Złobina), tax evasion (Alaksandraŭ, Navažyłaŭ), and organization of protests (Alaksandraŭ and Złobina). Human rights groups consider all four political prisoners.

The Supreme Court will hear their appeal on January 6, 2023.