RFE/RL journalist celebrates 1,000 days in prison in Belarus on allegedly false charges

A journalist with VOA sister station Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty served his 1,000th prison sentence in Belarus on Wednesday on charges that he and his employer deny are politically motivated.

Andrey Kuznechyk of RFE/RL’s Belarusian service – known locally as Radio Svaboda – has been in prison in Belarus since his arrest on November 25, 2021.

He was initially sentenced to ten days in prison for hooliganism, but he denied the charge. When Kuznechyk was due to be released, the authorities kept him in prison and also charged him with founding an extremist group.

In a trial that lasted only one day, a regional court found Kuznetschyk guilty in June 2022 and sentenced him to six years in prison.

“Belarus’ treatment of Andrey Kuznetschyk is reprehensible,” RFE/RL President Stephen Capus said in a post on the social media platform X.

The US Agency for Global Media, the umbrella organization of RFE/RL and VOA, also called on Belarus to release Kuznetshyk.

“Journalism is not a crime, yet journalists around the world continue to be persecuted simply for reporting the truth,” USAGM CEO Amanda Bennett said in a statement to VOA. “Today, it is sickening that Andrey Kuznechyk has been wrongfully imprisoned in Belarus for 1,000 days. Every moment he spends in that labor camp is one too many.”

Kuznetschyk is one of several journalists and activists detained in Belarus since 2020, when President Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, claimed another victory in a disputed presidential election. Massive protests against the disputed vote were met with a harsh government crackdown.

According to the human rights group Viasna, Belarus still holds more than 1,400 political prisoners, and independent news agencies have been forced to close or go into exile. At the end of 2023, Belarus ranked third in the world in terms of the detention of journalists, with 28 detainees, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Kuznechyk is one of two RFE/RL journalists currently detained in Belarus.

The second defendant is Ihar Losik, who has been detained since June 2020, before the disputed election. He was eventually tried behind closed doors on charges including “organizing mass unrest” and “inciting hatred” and sentenced to 15 years in prison. The charges against him are also widely viewed as false.

“Andrey Kuznetschyk and Ihar Losik were imprisoned for years without Belarus taking them seriously,” Capus said on X.

Kuznetschyk and Losik, as well as opposition leader Viktar Babaryka, are being held in Penal Colony No. 1, which is considered one of the toughest prisons in Belarus.

The third RFE/RL journalist to be detained is Vladislav Yesypenko, who has been in prison in Russian-occupied Crimea since March 2021. He is accused of “possession and transportation of explosives,” which he denies, and was sentenced to six years in prison in a closed trial.

“Their so-called crimes?” Capus asked, referring to the three imprisoned journalists. “They spread journalistic words of truth.” RFE/RL is calling for their immediate release, he added.

American RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva was among the station's wrongfully imprisoned journalists until she was released from Russia in early August as part of a historic prisoner exchange between Moscow and Washington.

The Belarusian embassy in Washington told VOA it had no comment for this story. The Belarusian foreign ministry did not immediately respond to VOA's email seeking comment. The Russian embassy in Washington also did not immediately respond to VOA's email seeking comment.