Media freedom groups condemn prison sentence against journalist Mierkis

May 31, BPN. Belarusian authorities should drop all charges against journalist Jaŭhien Mierkis and immediately release him and other jailed media workers, said the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

His four-year prison sentence is “the latest expression of authorities’ vendetta against those who dared cover nationwide protests following the disputed 2020 presidential election,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) joined the call to release 33 jailed Belarusian reporters and condemned the verdict, along with the International Press Institute.

The latter noted that Mierkis’ trial “took place behind closed doors, with authorities ordering the journalist’s lawyer not to inform the public about facts of the case.”

On May 30, the Homiel Regional Court sentenced Mierkis to four years in prison on extremism-related charges and confiscated his photo and video equipment and data carriers.

Mierkis had cooperated with independent media such as the Belsat TV channel, which was banned as an “extremist group” after the 2020 protests against Alaksandr Łukašenka.

Later, he stopped working as a journalist and focused on local history projects.

Mierkis was arrested in September 2022 after his apartment and his father’s house were searched by authorities.

Human rights activists consider him a political prisoner.