A journalist of the Belarusian service of Radio Liberty (recognized by the Belarusian authorities as an extremist formation, and by the Russian authorities as a foreign media agent) Oleg Gruzdilovich was sentenced to one and a half years in prison, the Belarusian Association of Journalists said on Thursday.

"Journalist Oleg Gruzdilovich was sentenced to one and a half years in prison. Such a sentence was passed by the court of the Sovetsky district of Minsk," the association said in the statement.

That is the deadline requested by the prosecutor the day before.

The journalist was detained in December 2021 shortly after the media recognized him as an extremist group. He became a suspect in the criminal case "Organization and preparation of actions grossly violating public order, or active participation in them" (Article 342 of the Criminal Code).

Gruzdilovich was accused of participating in an unsanctioned protest in 2020. He worked for the action as a journalist when he was already deprived of accreditation by the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, which is mandatory for journalists of foreign media.

Prior to this, Gruzdilovich was detained in the summer of 2021, along with two colleagues. The Minsk office of Radio Liberty was then searched. The media employees were later released.