Ahead of election, media group accuses Belarus of crimes against humanity

FILE - People hold placards depicting jailed Belarusian journalists Roman Protasevich and Ihar Losik as members of the Belarusian community gather to meet with Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskayahave, in Warsaw, Poland, on June 3, 2021. FILE - Belarusian opposition supporters rally in Minsk, Belarus, on Aug. 23, 2020, after President Alexander Lukashenko's disputed reelection victory. In a subsequent crackdown, hundreds of independent media outlets and nongovernmental organizations were closed and outlawed. FILE - Four men in plain clothing detained journalist Andrey Kuznechyk outside his Minsk apartment on Nov. 25, 2021.

Ahead of Belarus’ presidential election this weekend, a media advocacy group filed a complaint Friday with the International Criminal Court accusing the country’s longtime leader of crimes against humanity against journalists.