; (3) Maryna Zolatava, chief editor of independent news website Tut.By, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison on charges of incitement to hatred and distributing materials calling for actions aimed at harming national security in March 2023; (4) Andrey Kuznechyk, a journalist who, while working for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was detained in November 2021, and sentenced in June 2022 to 6 years in prison on charges of forming an extremist group; (5) Ihar Losik, another Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist who was arrested in June 2020, and sentenced in December 2021 to 15 years in jail on bogus charges of preparation of actions that violate public order, who attempted suicide in March 2023, and whose wife Darya was sentenced in January 2023 to 2 years in prison on a charge of facilitating extremist activity; (6) Alyaksandr Mantsevich, who was detained in March 2023, and is serving a 4-year prison sentence after being convicted in November 2023 on charges of discrediting Belarus; (7) Dzianis Ivashyn, a freelance journalist who has been serving a sentence of 13 years and 1 month since being convicted in September 2022, on charges of treason and illegal collection and dissemination of information about private life ; and (8) Ihar Karnei, a former freelancer with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, who was sentenced on March 22, 2024 to 3 years in jail for participating in an extremist group; Whereas Belarus has weaponized extremism laws against independent media outlets, with around 25 media outlets labeled as extremist groups or organizations as of March 2024, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, and has jailed journalists on allegations of creating or participating in extremist groups or facilitating extremist activities