BELARUS jailed the chief editor of an independent newspaper today for allegedly “discrediting the state”, the latest journalist to be imprisoned as the country stamps out press freedom.

Aliaksandr Mantsevich, 65, was detained in March after prosecutors found his Regional Gazette newspaper spread “knowingly false information discrediting Belarus and its authorities”.

“The court decided to punish the journalist with four years in a general regime prison,” the Viasna human rights group said, adding he was also fined about US$28,500 (RM134,790.75).

Since the controversial re-election of strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko in 2020, what remains of Belarus’ independent media has been censored, shut down, or forced into exile.

The Regional Gazette was one of the few weekly newspapers in the minority Belarusian language, whose speakers have faced increased hostility as the government linked them to the opposition movement.

Mantsevich maintained his innocence during the court proceedings.

“I have never betrayed the motherland,” he was quoted as saying by Viasna.

“It’s a pity that I, as a grandfather, cannot teach my grandson new Belarusian words and my daughter cannot explain to my grandson where his grandfather is, but he will not be ashamed of his grandfather,” he said.

Belarus counts some 1,500 political prisoners in its jails, including rights activists, politicians and journalists.

The country’s most popular news site Tut.By was declared “extremist” by the authorities in 2021, as was the oldest Belarusian language newspaper Nasha Niva the following year. – AFP, November 3, 2023.