Belarusian journalist sentenced to eight years

MOSCOW: Belarus on Wednesday sentenced a young journalist who covered protests against President Alexander Lukashenko to an additional eight years in prison for "state treason", the channel she worked for said.

Katerina Bakhvalova -- who uses the pen name Katerina Andreyeva -- was already serving a two-year sentence for "violating public order" and was due to be released in September. The 28-year-old was detained in November 2020 with fellow journalist Daria Chultsova while filming one of the anti-government rallies that swept Belarus that year.

"Our colleague Katerina Andreyeva was sentenced to eight years in prison," the Poland-based Belsat TV channel and media said on Telegram. It said she was transferred from a prison colony in Gomel, south-eastern Belarus, and brought to a pre-trial detention centre in February.