RSF calls for Belarus to overturn pro-Russian bloggers' convictions

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called for the convictions of the three Belarus-based contributors for the Russian website Regnum to be overturned on appeal. The sentence is 'absurd' and 'contradicts the principles of the freedom of expression', the international organization announced. Three people – Yury Paulavets, Syarhei Shyptenka and Dzmitry Alimkin were sentenced to five years in prison - the term suspended for three years on 2 February. The Minsk City Court convicted the trio on charges of inciting hatred in their articles on Belarus published in the Russian website Regnum. 

The three bloggers were released after being held provisionally for 14 months but the sentence will restrict their freedom for the next three years. If they fail to report regularly to the police or leave the city without permission, they could be made to serve the five-year jail term, RSF said in a statement.

"These sentences would be appropriate for dangerous criminals, to deter them from reoffending, but not for bloggers who were prosecuted for expressing controversial views," the head of RSF's Eastern Europe & Central Asia desk Johann Bihr said.  "Under international standards on freedom of expression, there is no justification for such disproportionate sentences. We call for their convictions to be overturned on appeal."