Freelance Belarusian journalist Volha Radzivonava is serving a four-year prison sentence after being convicted on charges of discrediting Belarus, “incitement to racial, national, religious, or other social hostility or discord,” and defaming and insulting the president of Belarus in December 2024.
Authorities detained Radzivonava on March 7, 2024. During her pretrial detention, she was sent for psychiatric evaluation at a hospital in Novinki, a village in central Minsk region, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), an advocacy and trade group operating from exile.
CPJ could not confirm the grounds for the charges against Radzivonava or other details of her case, including the state of her health. A BAJ representative who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal, said they believe the journalist was prosecuted for her work.
CPJ’s emails to the Belarusian Investigative Committee, the country’s law enforcement agency responsible for investigating crimes, in late 2024 for comment did not receive any reply.