INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Five employees of what used to be authoritarian Belarus's largest independent news outlet went on trial Monday in Minsk, facing several
erupted after President Alexander Lukashenko claimed a sixth term in office in a contested election.The new source's editor-in-chief Marina
Zolotova and its general director Lyudmila Chekina have been in pre-trial detention since May 2021.Three other defendants in the case left
Belarus before the trial started, according to rights group Viasna.A photo from court published by opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya
showed Zolotova and Chekina sitting inside a cage for defendants."We must support all journalists who fight for the truth!" Tikhanovskaya
wrote on Twitter on Monday at the start of the closed-door trial.The media outlet was designated "extremist" in 2021
former colleagues "was fabricated from start to finish and appeared only because the regime is afraid of journalists."Following the historic
anti-regime protests in 2020, Belarus has sought to wipe out remaining pockets of dissent, jailing journalists, activists and forcing many
Ales Bialiatski, who was co-awarded last year's Nobel Peace Prize, went on trial in Belarus with several of his associates.They face between
seven and 12 years in prison.Tikhanovskaya, who claimed victory in Belarus's disputed 2020 presidential election, will face trial in
