Journalists from Belarus’ top news outlet go on trial

By YURAS KARMANAU
Associated Press

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Journalists from Belarus’ top independent news outlet have gone on trial in the country’s capital as a relentless crackdown persists on critical voices in the ex-Soviet nation. The editor-in-chief of TUT.BY online news portal, Maryna Zolatava, and its director general, Lyudmila Chekina, face charges of “hurting national security,” “inciting hatred” and dodging taxes. Three other TUT-BY journalists who left the country are being tried in absentia in the trial that opened Monday. They could face up to 12 years in prison if convicted. Belarus was shaken by protests after the disputed August 2020 re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko, which the opposition and the West denounced as fraudulent. Authorities responded to the demonstrations with a massive crackdown.