Belarus Journalist Pavel Dabravolski Gets Nine-Year Treason Sentence

Overview

• Dabravolski was convicted in a closed hearing at Minsk City Court and ordered to serve the term in a maximum-security prison, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists.
• The treason charge under Article 356, Part 1 is linked by independent outlet Pozirk to his reporting on the 2020 protests that challenged President Alexander Lukashenko’s rule.
• Advocacy groups report an escalating sweep against journalists, with BAJ saying he is the fifth media worker jailed in two weeks and that 28 journalists are imprisoned nationwide.
• The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the sentence and urged his immediate release, while exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called the case based on trumped-up charges.
• He previously worked for BelaPAN, which the KGB labeled an extremist group in 2021, was detained in Minsk on January 22, 2025 after returning to the country in late 2024, and his trial began on February 27.