Belarus court sentences two female journalists for live coverage of a protest

On Thursday, a court in Belarus sentenced two female journalists to two years in prison on the grounds of violating public order after they covered a protest against the nation's contentious president.

In Minsk, the court handed two-year jail terms to Katsiaryna Andreyeva and Daria Chultsova, reporters from independent media outlet Belsat TV.

They were held on November 15 in a flat in Minsk. They had filmed live coverage of a show's violent dispersal in homage to an opposition activist, Roman Bondarenko, who was dead a few days earlier in police custody after being arrested.

The pair were charged with "organizing things rudely disrupting public order," charges they have denied.

From the defendants' cage, they made V signs with their fingers during the trial, which symbolizes victory and a rallying movement for Lukashenko's authoritarian regime's detractors.

In Belarus, the US Embassy has asked for their release and urges Belarusian authorities to stop journalists from doing their jobs.

Belarus has been shaken by demonstrations after approved results from the August 9 presidential election handed President Alexander Lukashenko, who is in sixth term in office by a landslide. The opposition and some poll workers also said the elections were rigged.

Authorizations in the Eastern European nation have answered with a comprehensive crackdown on the protests, the most prominent of which had up to 200,000 people. According to human rights activists, more than 30,000 people were detained since the protests began, and thousands were also brutally beaten.

The United States and the European Union replied to the Belarus election and the crackdown by putting sanctions against Belarusian officials.

Responding to the court ruling in many tweets, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Lukashenko's opponent in the presidential election and placed herself as the leader of the opposition from exile Lithuania, praised the journalists.

In one post, Tsikhanouskaya tweeted: "Just look at Darya and Katsiaryna – strong, smiling, and speaking goodbyes to their loved ones through bars. Lukashenka can't break us".