Belarusian radio host Aleh Khamenka is serving a three-year prison sentence after being convicted on March 4, 2026, on charges of promoting “extremist” activities. Belarusian authorities have detained Khamenka since June 2025.
A musician and composer, Khamenka has been a contributor to the Poland-based Belarusian Radio Racyja since the late 2000s. He hosted several programs for the station up until his detention, including music programs like “A Dozen Hits” and “Folk Gate.”
Belarusian authorities detained Khamenka on June 17, 2025, after searching his apartment in Minsk, the capital. Khamenka’s detention was made public on June 30. On July 9, the Belarusian human rights group Viasna reported that Khamenka had been detained on criminal extremism charges over his alleged cooperation with an unnamed independent Belarusian media outlet labeled as “extremist.”
His trial started on February 19.
On March 4, a Belarusian court in Minsk convicted Khamenka on charges of promoting “extremist” activities and sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), an advocacy and trade group operating from exile. The court also fined Khamenka 20,000 Belarusian rubles (US$6,800).
The charges against Khamenka stem from his work for Radio Racyja — the court files make note of his radio shows for the station, BAJ reported.
In September 2021, Radio Racyja’s website was blocked in Belarus. On January 16, 2024, the Belarusian security service (KGB) labeled the station an extremist group.
The Belarusian criminal code was amended in 2021 to comply with a package of extremism legislation. Since then, the law to combat extremism has been used to ban at least 50 media outlets, according to BAJ.
In March 2026, CPJ emailed the Belarusian Investigative Committee, the law enforcement agency in charge of pretrial proceedings, for comment on Khamenka’s case but did not receive a reply.