Belarus convicts a famous dissident rock band and sentences its members to correctional labor

By YURAS KARMANAU
Associated Press

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarus has convicted a famous dissident rock band, designating the band and its three members as extremist and sentencing them to two years of correctional labor. It’s the latest in a yearslong crackdown on dissent that has engulfed this country of 9.5 million. Nizkiz band members were charged with “organizing and plotting actions grossly violating public order.” Belarus erupted in mass protests in 2020 after President Alexander Lukashenko won a sixth term in a disputed election. Nizkiz at the time released “Rules,” a song that became the protests’ anthem. The authorities unleashed a brutal crackdown in response to the protests, arresting more than 35,000 people and violently beating thousands. The repressions continue to this day.