The Belarusian journalist was convicted of treason and sentenced to 9 years in prison

Tallinn, Estonia — Belarusian journalist Pavel Dabravolsky was convicted of treason and sentenced to nine years in a maximum-security prison on Monday, activists said, making him the fifth media activist to go to jail in two weeks in a relentless government crackdown on press freedom.

Dabravolsky, who has reported for international and domestic news outlets and won several prizes for his work, was found guilty during a closed-door hearing in Minsk City Court, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists. The 36-year-old recently worked for Belapan, which Belarusian authorities have identified as extremist.

President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for more than three decades, has remained in power through a relentless crackdown on dissent.

Massive protests erupted after the 2020 elections, which were widely condemned as rigged. More than 65,000 people were arrested and thousands were beaten. Hundreds of independent media outlets and non-governmental organizations were shut down and outlawed in the wake of the protests.

Exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said Dabravolsky was being targeted with “trumped-up allegations”.

“Dabravolski’s only ‘crime’ is doing his job and covering the 2020 protests after the stolen election,” he said. “We see that the conveyor belt of repression inside Belarus continues unabated.”

Activists report a sharp increase in government pressure on media workers in Belarus.

“Repression is escalating and Dabravolski’s sentence shows that the authorities are increasing pressure on journalists in a country that already has the worst freedom of speech in Europe,” Andrei Bastunets, head of the journalists’ union, told The Associated Press.

The group says 28 journalists have been arrested in Belarus.

“This contradicts the notion that the human rights situation in Belarus has improved due to the release of key political prisoners,” Bastunets said.

Under Lukashenko, Belarus has faced sanctions for Western isolation and repression, and allowed Moscow to use its territory during a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. He recently tried to improve relations with the West by releasing hundreds of political prisoners.

Many more remain behind bars, however, with human rights organization Vyasna estimating that there are 1,140 political prisoners.