Belarusian charge d' affaires summoned over journalist rights

The Belarusian charge d' affaires in Poland has been summoned to the Polish foreign ministry in connection with the persecution of journalists and the Polish minority in his country, the foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday. Lukasz Jasina said the main reason for the summons was a Belarusian court's recent sentencing of Iryna Slaunikava, a journalist who has worked for Polish state-owned broadcaster TVP for the past 15 years, to five years in a labour camp. Slaunikava was sentenced in Gomel, south eastern Belarus, on charges of "creating an extremist formation."