New York, September 17, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Tuesday’s sentencing of Belarusian journalist Ihar Ilyash to four years in jail and a fine of 4,200 rubles (US$1,240) on charges of promoting “extremist” activities and “discrediting” Belarus.
Separately, on September 13, the independent news website Pozirk reported that journalist Kiryl Pazniak had been detained in early September on suspicion of involvement with a banned “extremist” online outlet.
“The sentencing of journalist Ihar Ilyash to four years in prison and the detention of Kyril Pazniak just days after the release of eight members of the press is a reminder that the repression of the media is far from over in Belarus,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Authorities should immediately release Ilyash and Pazniak, along with all imprisoned journalists.”
Ilyash’s trial started on February 21 and was suspended for months pending the “psycholinguistic examination” of 15 of the journalist’s unspecified reports. Ilyash, who was detained in October 2024, denied the charges.
On October 22, 2024, the pro-government Telegram channel Kniga GU “BAZA” published a video in which Ilyash said he worked with banned Poland-based independent broadcaster Belsat TV and gave interviews to media outlets that Belarus has labeled “extremist groups.”
In early September, Belarusian authorities designated Platform 375 as “extremist” and arrested Pazniak, who hosted discussions between government and opposition supporters on the YouTube channel until 2022.
Pazniak was likely detained on September 2 or 3, charged with extremism, and placed in a pretrial detention center, said a representative of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), an exiled advocacy and trade group, on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisals.
In 2021, Belarus adopted a package of extremism legislation to combat opposition and crackdown on the media after unprecedented protests calling for the resignation of President Aleksandr Lukashenko following his disputed 2020 election. The 2021 law to combat extremism has been used to ban more than 40 media outlets, according to BAJ.
Belarus was Europe’s worst jailer of journalists with at least 33 behind bars in CPJ’s latest annual prison census as of mid-September 2025.
CPJ emailed the Belarusian Investigative Committee, the law enforcement agency in charge of pretrial proceedings, for comment but did not receive a reply.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.