March 9, Pozirk. The Minsk City Court on March 6 sentenced journalist Pavieł Dabravolski to nine years in a high-security penal colony following a closed-door trial.
The charges of high treason reportedly stemmed from the journalist’s professional activities during the 2020 postelection protests in Belarus
Dabravolski was arrested on January 22, 2025, ten days after his 35th birthday.
The journalist had worked for the BelaPAN media company before the KGB declared it an “extremist group” in November 2021. In October 2020, he was arrested in Minsk and jailed for 15 days.
According to Dabravolski’s social media, after leaving Belarus at the end of 2021, he traveled around the world. In October 2024, he returned to the Belarusian capital.
The human rights community considers him a political prisoner.
At least 28 media workers are held behind bars in Belarus, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists.
About two weeks ago, journalists Uładzimir Janukievič and Andrej Pakalenka were sentenced to 14 and 12 years in prison on high treason charges, respectively.
