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The journalist was detained on May 26, 2022, after a search.
The journalist has currently been charged, but the exact criminal offense against Lyubenchuk is unknown (his lawyer is under a non-disclosure agreement).
In early November 2023, it became known that Ales had been experiencing spinal problems behind bars (a year earlier). "He even has difficulty playing sports, which is what everyone does to escape. This visibly upsets him," a source told Radio Svaboda. Ales worked stripping insulation from wires.
He was released in early January 2025.
He was arrested and taken into custody for the second time in September 2025.
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The director of the newspaper "Belarusians and the Market" was detained on May 18, 2022, following a search of the editorial office.
He was released in the fall of 2025, having served his full sentence.
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Former presenter of the program «Zone X» on the TV channel «Belarus 1» and freelance correspondent of the Kazakh TV channel «Khabar 24». The reason for the detention was his story on the channel.
In addition to imprisonment, Dmitry was awarded a penalty of 16 000 BYN.
4 years of imprisonment in a penal colony of general regime.
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Journalist for "Intex-press" from Baranovichi.
He was arrested on April 27, 2022. On April 29, he was sentenced to 10 days in jail.
About a week after the journalist's arrest, a video fragment from his interrogation appeared on pro-government Telegram channels, along with information about the reason for Gontarevich's arrest: he allegedly photographed Russian military equipment and sent the images to media outlets deemed extremist by the Belarusian authorities.
He was released at the end of summer 2024 .
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Editor of the New Chas newspaper. Detained on April 20, 2022 after interrogation in the UK.
2.5 years of restriction of freedom with referral to an open institution.
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Independent journalist, works for Radio Svaboda.
He was detained on November 25, sentenced to 10 days, but was not released on December 5 and was again given 10 days. But Andrei was not released on December 15 either, receiving another 10 days of arrest. A criminal case was opened against him.
On February 12, 2025, with the help of the US State Department, Elena Movshuk, journalist Andrei Kuznechik and a US citizen whose name has not yet been disclosed were released. They were pardoned by Lukashenko.
Details of the release were revealed to CNN by Chris Smith, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Europe.
"It was a special operation: we crossed the Belarusian border, met with authorities in Minsk, who handed over three detainees to us. We picked them up and took them through Lithuania." According to Smith, it was a "unilateral gesture" by the Belarusian authorities, seeking to improve relations with the United States.
"Lukashenko received nothing in return," he noted.
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On October 30, Irina was detained at the Minsk airport when she and her husband were returning from vacation. On November 1, Pervomaisky District Judge Maxim Trusevich sentenced them both to 15 days of arrest for allegedly storing materials on Facebook that were deemed "extremist." On November 15, journalist Irina Slavnikova was sentenced to another 15 days of arrest for the second time in a row. On November 26, it became known that Irina Slavnikova had become a suspect under Article 342 of the Criminal Code.
On September 11, 2025, it became known that 52 political prisoners of the Belarusian regime were forcibly transferred to the territory of Lithuania. Among them are citizens of European countries . Among those released is Irina Slavnikova .
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Gennady, a journalist for Komsomolskaya Pravda, was detained in the fall of 2021 following a search of his home as part of a criminal investigation opened following the deaths of KGB officer Dmitry Fedosyuk and IT specialist Andrei Zeltser in Minsk. The case stemmed from an article about Zeltser published in the newspaper.
In March 2023, Gennady was found guilty of "inciting hatred or discord" and "insulting Lukashenko." According to the prosecution, Gennady, "acting out of political and ideological hatred, committed a number of crimes between June 23, 2020, and October 2021." He also "produced and posted negative, obscene, and unacceptable" statements about Lukashenko online.
He was released in November 2023, having fully served his sentence.
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Irina, editor-in-chief and director of the BelaPAN news agency, was detained on August 18, 2021, following searches of her home and the agency's offices, as well as an interrogation. She was initially placed in pretrial detention for 72 hours as part of a criminal case under the article "organizing or preparing actions that grossly violate public order, or participating in them." However, she was not released and was transferred to a pretrial detention center 10 days later. The charge was later amended to tax evasion.
In November 2021, it was revealed that Irina had also been charged with "creating an extremist group." In October 2022, she was found guilty of "participating in an extremist group," sentenced to imprisonment, and banned from holding certain positions for five years.
Irina was released in December 2024, having fully served her sentence imposed by the court.
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The Belarusian philosopher and methodologist, public and political activist, and founder of the Flying University was detained on August 4, 2021, following a search of his home as part of a criminal investigation. He was ultimately charged with three offenses: "active participation in group actions that grossly violate public order" for participating in the "People's Ultimatum March" on October 25, 2020; "creation of an extremist group" for the "Skhod" platform; and "insulting Lukashenko" for a video posted on his YouTube channel.
In June 2022, Vladimir was found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment in a penal colony.
On February 13, 2023, the court considered the issue of changing Vladimir's detention regime, as a result of which he was transferred to a prison regime.
On September 11, 2025, it was announced that 52 political prisoners of the Belarusian regime, including citizens of European countries, had been forcibly transferred to Lithuania. Vladimir was among those released.
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Anna is a journalist for the Belsat TV channel and host of the anti-fake program "Lukavie Novosti." She was detained on July 16, 2021, during mass searches of independent journalists in Minsk and other Belarusian cities. Her arrest was part of a criminal case under the article "participation in mass riots." Her apartment was searched, her equipment was seized, and Anna was then placed in a temporary detention facility. On July 23 of that year, she was released, remaining a suspect.
Later, Anna left Belarus.
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Alexander has been a journalist for Radio Svaboda since 2004. He previously worked for the German service of state radio. He speaks German and is an expert on Germany and its political ties with Belarus. In August 2020, he was stripped of his accreditation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, along with most journalists from foreign media outlets.
On July 16, 2021, Alexander was detained at his parents' home in the Postavy district during mass searches of independent journalists in Minsk and other cities. On July 23 of that year, he was released from the temporary detention facility, remaining a suspect.
On December 15, 2022, the criminal prosecution against the journalist was dropped and the restriction on leaving Belarus was lifted.
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Inessa is a journalist for Radio Svaboda. Previously, she worked for Belarusian Youth Radio, then for 101.2 fm. At Radio Svaboda, she covered topics in medicine, education, and social affairs, actively covering important social and political events. In September 2020, she lost her accreditation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs following the ministry's decision to re-accredit journalists for foreign media outlets.
On July 16, 2021, she was detained during large-scale searches of independent journalists. Ten days later, nine of which she spent on hunger strike, Inessa was released, remaining a suspect.
She later left Belarus.
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Oleg is a journalist for Radio Svaboda, previously worked for the Znamya Yunosti newspaper, and was one of the founders of the RID news agency. In the summer of 2020, he actively covered the protests in Belarus and conducted live streams. In August, he lost his Foreign Ministry accreditation along with other journalists from foreign media outlets.
On July 16, 2021, he was detained during a large-scale search of independent journalists' homes. He was released ten days later, remaining a suspect. On December 23 of that year, security forces again raided his home and took him into custody on charges of "organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order or actively participating in them."
In March 2022, the court found Oleg guilty, declaring that he participated in unauthorized protests during which Minsktrans calculated damages of 56,000 rubles.
In September 2022, the journalist was released as part of a pardon.
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Andrey is the head of the advertising and marketing department of Nasha Niva, the author of the Nasha Gistoriya magazine. From 2006 to 2017, he was the editor-in-chief of the publication. On July 8, 2021, he was detained in a case of "group actions grossly violating public order." He was later charged under the article on "causing property damage without signs of theft" - for paying for utilities at rates for individuals instead of legal entities. The investigation calculated the damage at more than 10 thousand rubles.
In March 2022, he was sentenced to imprisonment, despite the fact that the damages were fully compensated.
In August 2023, he was released, having fully served his sentence imposed by the court.