A lifelong Liverpool fan who sings You'll Never Walk Alone to himself each day after being detained last year has been sentenced to 14 years in jail.
Andrei Aliaksandrau was detained in his native Belarus in January 2021 on charges of “organisation and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them”. The charges were later ramped up to include high treason.
Belarusian authorities accused journalist Andrei and his partner Iryna Zlobina of financing protests that spread around Belarus in 2020 after President Alexander Lukashenko returned to power. The elections were marred by claims of widespread fraud.
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As a journalist, Andrei had worked for a number of years on staff for the London-based Index on Censorship, an organisation which campaigns for freedom of expression. He had returned to Belarus but was still working for Index as a freelance contributor when he was arrested in January last year.
This week Andrei was sentenced to 14 years in prison, with Irina sentenced to nine years in a court in Minsk. The sentences have been described as "a damning indictment of Lukashenka's Belarus" by Index On Censorship.
Ruth Smeeth, the CEO of Index on Censorship said: "We are devastated that our dear friend and former colleague Andrei has been sentenced by the Belarusian regime. Like his wife Irina, his only “crime” has been to steadfastly support fellow citizens defending Belarusian democracy.
"Yesterday’s verdict is a damning indictment of Lukashenka’s Belarus, and one of most chilling demonstrations to date of his determination to crush freedom of expression. Index will continue to expose the rank criminality of the Lukashenka regime, and to shine a constant light on Andrei, Irina and the countless others like them imprisoned and persecuted for speaking out."
The ECHO previously reported that Andrei is a huge Liverpool Football Club fan. His former colleagues said he had been reciting the lyrics of the Reds anthem You'll Never Walk Alone each day in prison to keep himself going.
Former Index on Censorship editor-in-chief Rachael Jolley said Andrei is the sort of person who puts his life and soul into the cause of making people realise what is going on in Belarus.
She said: “He feels really strongly about media freedom and feels the world doesn’t pay enough attention to what is going on there.
“He worked so hard to bring stories out of Belarus when most journalists would be too worried to cover them. He keeps covering stories when others have given up.”
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