New York, March 9, 2026 — The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns the March 6 sentencing of Belarusian journalist Pavel Dabravolski to nine years in jail on treason charges, and calls on Belarusian authorities to release him immediately.
Dabravolski’s trial, held behind closed doors, started in Minsk, the capital, on February 27. The charges under Article 356, Part 1 of the criminal code stem from his coverage of the 2020 nationwide protests demanding the resignation of President Aleksandr Lukashenko, according to independent news outlet Pozirk.
“The harsh prison sentence handed down to journalist Pavel Dabravolski, the latest in a recent series of convictions of journalists in retaliation for independent reporting, shows that the media crackdown continues unabated in Belarus,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Authorities should immediately release Dabravolski, along with all imprisoned journalists.”
Dabravolski was detained in Minsk on January 22, 2025, but his detention was first made public on August 26 by Pozirk and Belarus-based human rights group Viasna.
Dabravolski had worked with the independent news agency BelaPAN before the KGB, the country’s security service, declared it an “extremist group” in November 2021, Pozirk reported. According to Viasna, Dabravolski is a former journalist with Naviny.by, a news website affiliated with BelaPAN. He had previously worked for both Belarusian and foreign media, including the independent Ukrainian news outlet New Voice of Ukraine, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), an exiled advocacy and trade group.
Dabravolski was previously detained while covering 2020 protests, Viasna reported. According to Pozirk, he was held for 15 days in Minsk, in October 2020. He left Belarus in the fall of 2021 and returned to Minsk in October 2024.
At least 26 journalists are currently behind bars in Belarus. At least six of them — Dabravolski, Dzianis Ivashyn, Katsiaryna Andreyeva, Andrei Aliaksandrau, Uladzimir Yanukevich, and Andrei Pakalenka are imprisoned on treason charges.
CPJ emailed the Belarusian Investigative Committee, the law enforcement agency in charge of pretrial proceedings, for comment but did not receive a reply.