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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Guardian staff and agencies

Belarus jails senior staff at independent news site in crackdown on Lukashenko critics

Marina Zolotova in court in 2019
Marina Zolotova in court in 2019. The editor-in-chief of independent Belarus news portal Tut.by, as well as general director Lyudmila Chekina, have each been jailed for 12 years in an ongoing crackdown on critics of president Alexander Lukashenko. Photograph: Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters

Belarus has handed long jail terms to senior staff at the country’s largest independent news site, which was forced to close after historic demonstrations against strongman Alexander Lukashenko over two years ago.

The verdicts are the latest in a crackdown on journalists, opposition figures and activists who challenged Lukashenko’s claim that he won a sixth presidential term in 2020.

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