Belarus jails two news site managers for 12 years

MOSCOW: Belarus on Friday handed long jail terms to senior staff of the country´s largest independent news site, which was forced to shutter after historic demonstrations against strongman Alexander Lukashenko.

The verdicts are the latest in a years-long crackdown targeting journalists, opposition figures and activists who questioned Lukashenko´s claim he won a sixth presidential term in 2020. A court in the capital Minsk sentenced the editor-in-chief of the Tut.by portal, Marina Zolotova, 45, and general director Lyudmila Chekina, 54, to 12 years behind bars.