Watchdog

Jailed Belarusian activist Mikalay Dzyadok's prison term has been extended by another year just four days before his planned release.

Dzyadok's trial was held inside the prison in the eastern city of Mahileu, where Dzyadok, an anarchist, is being held.

Dzyadok's wife, Valeriya Khotsina told RFE/RL that Judge Ihar Shvedau on February 26 found the activist guilty of violating prison rules and extended his prison term by one year.

Dzyadok's 4 1/2 year prison term on a hooliganism conviction was due to end on March 3.

According to Khotsina, her husband again said in his testimony at the trial that he was not guilty and that "the system based on lies will collapse in the end."

New York-based Human Rights Watch has recognized Dzyadok as a political prisoner.

ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- A court in Kazakhstan has rejected journalist Gulzhan Erghalieva's challenge against closure of her magazine, upholding a ruling ordering Adam Bol (Be a Human) to shut down.

Erghalieva said after the Almaty City Court's decision was pronounced on February 26 that she has not yet decided whether she will appeal.

She said she had started a new media project, called Adam (Human), which she plans to launch on March 13.

In December, an Almaty court ordered Adam Bol to be closed for "propagating war."

That ruling came weeks after the magazine published an interview with opposition activist Aidos Sadyqov, who lives in exile in Ukraine.

In the interview, Sadyqov lambasted Russia for its involvement in the military conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Erghalieva, whose magazine published reports on alleged corruption and rights abuses by officials, has been under pressure from the authorities for years.