A Belarusian court has sentenced the members of dissident rock band Nizkiz to two years of prison labor after finding them guilty of “organizing and plotting actions grossly violating public order.” After President Alexander Lukashenko won a sixth term in the country’s disputed 2020 election, mass protests broke out. Nizkiz released the song “Rules,” which became a protest anthem, and filmed the song’s music video at the site of one of those demonstrations. The government also placed the band on its official registry of extremists, effectively banning its music and making its fans targets for prosecution.
