Belarus convicts a famous dissident rock band and sentences its members to correctional labor
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarusian authorities on Friday convicted a famous dissident rock band, designating the band and its three members as extremist and sentencing them to two years of correctional labor. It was the latest in a yearslong crackdown on dissent that has engulfed this country of 9.5 million people.
Nizkiz band members — Alyaksandr Ilyin, Siarhei Kulsha and Dzmitry Khalyaukin — were charged with “organizing and plotting actions grossly violating public order.”
In 2020, when Belarus was rocked by mass protests that erupted after President Alexander Lukashenko won a sixth term in office in a disputed election, the band released “Rules,” a song that became the protests’ anthem. A music video for the song was filmed at one of the demonstrations against the country’s authoritarian leader.
Lukashenko’s government unleashed a brutal crackdown in response to the protests, arresting more than 35,000 people and violently beating thousands. Many have been labeled as “extremists,” a designation frequently used against critics. The repressions have continued to this day.
Related articles
Jordan stations 2 firefighting helicopters in Cyprus to help as summer fire season arrives
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Jordan on Monday stationed two helicopters in Cyprus to help the Mediterranea2024-05-07More toll roads coming, but at what price?
Photo: NZTA2024-05-07Telling the story of Taiwan beyond the cross
A government-funded streaming news platform launched just three weeks ago aims to tell the world tha2024-05-07Grant Robertson, the consummate political support partner
Grant Robertson says he has given "every single inch of myself to the jobs I've had in Parliament".2024-05-07New Liberia forest boss plans to increase exports, denies working with war criminal Charles Taylor
Liberia, West Africa’s most forested country, has a long history of illegal logging, which the count2024-05-07Green MP Efeso Collins dies during charity run
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone2024-05-07
atest comment