Belarus jails journalist Alena Tsimashchuk for 5 years; reason for charges undisclosed

New York, June 20, 2024—Belarusian authorities must immediately disclose the reasons behind charges against journalist Alena Tsimashchuk, who was sentenced to five years imprisonment, and ensure that no members of the press are jailed for their work.

On June 3, a court in the southwestern city of Brest convicted Tsimashchuk of discrediting Belarus, “incitement to racial, national, religious, or other social hostility or discord,” and participating in an extremist formation, according to the banned human rights group Viasna, and the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), an advocacy and trade group operating from exile. The court sentenced Tsimashchuk to five years in jail and a fine of 46,000 Belarusian rubles (US$14,000), those sources said. CPJ was unable to determine whether Tsimashchuk plans to appeal her sentence.

There is no information regarding the grounds for the charges against Tsimashchuk, those reports said. Her trial started on May 31, BAJ reported. She is currently held in pretrial detention center No. 7 in Brest, according to Viasna.

“In just four days and two hearings, a Belarusian court sentenced journalist Alena Tsimashchuk to five years’ imprisonment on unknown grounds,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Authorities should immediately disclose the reasons behind the charges brought against Tsimashchuk and ensure that no journalists are jailed for their work.”

Tsimashchuk is a freelance journalist who has worked with several local outlets in the Brest region, according to BAJ. A BAJ representative who spoke to CPJ anonymously, citing fear of reprisal, said that the date of Tsimashchuk’s detention was unknown, but that it most likely occurred in late 2023.

CPJ emailed the Belarusian Investigative Committee and the Brest Regional Court for comment on Tsimashchuk’s case but did not receive any response.

Belarus was the world’s third worst jailer of journalists, with at least 28 journalists behind bars on December 1, 2023, when CPJ conducted its most recent prison census.