More than 40 journalists remain in Belarusian prisons for protest, the most in Europe

At least 40 journalists in Belarus are serving long prison sentences, according to the Belarusian Journalists' Association, while the international non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) claims that Belarus is "a leader in the detention of journalists."

Journalist Ksenia Lutkina has served only half of her eight-year prison sentence in Belarus after being convicted of plotting to overthrow the government.

She was pardoned after fainting in her cell due to a brain tumor diagnosed during her detention.

"I was literally brought to the penal colony in a wheelchair and I realized that journalism in Belarus has truly turned into a life-threatening profession," she told The Associated Press in Vilnius, Lithuania, where she lives.

Luckina is one of dozens of journalists imprisoned in Belarus, where many have been beaten, have poor medical care and are denied access to lawyers or relatives, activists and former prisoners say. She compared the prisons to those from the Soviet era.

She resigned from the Belarusian public broadcaster during the 2020 demonstrations against President Alexander Lukashenko. She tried to form an alternative fact-checking television channel, but was arrested and convicted that year.

Mass protests over the allegedly stolen elections were suppressed and many journalists were arrested or fled the country.

Many have had to scale back their work after the administration of US President Donald Trump cut off foreign aid, a vital source of funding for many independent media outlets.

"Journalists are facing repression not only within the country, but also the sudden withdrawal of American aid, which is putting many newsrooms on the brink of survival," Andrei Bastunec, president of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, told the AP.

Lukashenko's brutal crackdown on protests led to the arrest of more than 65.000 people between 2020 and 2025.

The Belarusian human rights group Vesna said that more than 1.200 political prisoners are currently in prison, including its founder, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Byaljacki.