Belarus jails journalist Kyril Pazniak for 3 ½ years 

New York, June 26, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the June 26 sentencing of Belarusian journalist Kyril Pazniak to three years and six months in prison, and calls on Belarusian authorities to release him immediately.  

The court in Minsk, the capital, convicted Pazniak on charges of creating an extremist group and discrediting Belarus. The court also fined Pazniak 24,750 Belarusian rubles (US$8,530). 

The charges against Pazniak are connected to his work for the YouTube channel Platform 375, which has covered politics and economy in Belarus. Pazniak hosted discussions between the government and opposition supporters until 2022.  

“The three-and-a-half-year prison sentence given to journalist Kyril Pazniak shows that Belarusian authorities remain unforgiving of those who independently covered the aftermath of the 2020 protests that swept the country following the disputed re-election of President Aleksandr Lukashenko,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “The authorities should immediately release Pazniak, as well as all imprisoned journalists.”

Pazniak was detained in Minsk on September 3, 2025. The next day, Belarusian authorities designated Platform 375 as extremist. 

“The verdict has no reasoned legal grounds and is evidence that there is no place for a free press in any form in Belarus today,” Siarzhuk Herasimovich, one of the founders of Platform 375, told Belsat TV.  

Pazniak’s daughter Yanina, who was detained on September 4, 2025, was sentenced on Friday as well, but her prison sentence and fine on similar charges was unknown. State prosecutors had requested three years in prison, reported Poland-based Belarusian broadcaster Belsat TV. According to the outlet, the charges against her stem from the sole fact that she registered Platform 375 on TikTok.

The trial of Pazniak and his daughter was scheduled to start in Minsk on May 14, but was postponed to June 17 because Pazniak was suffering complications from COVID-19. 

In 2021, Belarus adopted a package of extremism legislation to combat political opposition and to crack down on the media after the 2020 protests. The law has been used to ban more than 50 media outlets, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists. 

At least 21 journalists are currently behind bars in Belarus. 

CPJ emailed the Belarusian Investigative Committee, the law enforcement agency in charge of pretrial proceedings, for comment but did not receive a reply.