Belarusian court hands down five year sentence to Polish TV journalist

A court in Gomel, Belarus, has sentenced TVP journalist Iryna Slaunikava to five years in a penal colony after finding her guilty of "creating an extremist formation", the independent Belarusian television channel Belsat has reported. Slaunikava, a Belarusian journalist and TVP correspondent, has been in custody since October last year. She is considered a prisoner of conscience and her trial is seen as politically motivated.