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Category: Tut.by

  • In Belarus, Lukashenko’s vindictiveness reaches new heights

    On May 23, Belarusian authorities caused a global outcry when they diverted a Lithuania-bound commercial flight to the Belarus capital of Minsk so they could arrest two passengers on the plane: self-exiled journalist Raman Pratasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega. This shocking tactic was seen as emblematic of just how far President Aleksandr Lukashenko is willing to go to capture and punish his critics. 

    The dramatic arrest should not have surprised anyone familiar with the vindictive nature of the Lukashenko regime. The Belarusian leader, who has run the country since 1994, launched an especially brutal crackdown against the media around the August 9, 2020, presidential election, which was widely seen as rigged. 

    Dozens of reporters were detained for reporting on mass anti-government protests after Lukashenko claimed victory in the contested vote; Belarus now has at least 19 reporters behind bars – up from 10 in 2020 – according to CPJ’s 2021 prison census. 

    CPJ has documented the beatings of journalists in detention as well as the authorities’ attempts to close media outlets, block the internet, raid newsrooms, harass journalists, and keep bringing new charges against those in jail. Many journalists have been detained multiple times.

    By late 2020, CPJ noted another change in the Belarusian authorities’ tactics: they started bringing criminal charges against journalists rather than just holding them in 15-day administrative detentions. In February, two journalists of the Poland-based online broadcaster Belsat TV were sentenced to two years in jail. The two were detained in November 2020 while livestreaming from a protest in Minsk. Katsiaryna Barysevich, a correspondent for Tut.by, one of Belarus’ largest media outlets, was also detained in November 2020 and sentenced in March this year to six months in jail on absurd charges of reporting on the death of protester Raman Bandarenka. 

    When Barysevich, whom CPJ honored with its International Press Freedom Award this year, was released from prison on May 19, she found out that her media outlet was shuttered, more than a dozen of her colleagues, including chief editor Maryna Zolatava, journalists Elena Tolkacheva and Volha Loika were in custody on tax evasion charges. Barysevich was unable to enter the Tut.by office. “I can’t get a document that proves my past employment with Tut.by because the office is sealed off, and there’s nobody in there. I cannot prove that I am unemployed now,” she told CPJ in June. (Several other Tut.by staff remain in detention and face serious charges. They are not listed in CPJ’s prison census because they did not work as journalists.)

    Days after the authorities raided the Tut.by and Belsat offices in May, the arrest of Pratasevich reinforced the full extent of the brutal nature of the Lukashenko regime.   

    Pratasevich, who was made to appear on state TV and at press conferences after a publicized “confession,” is now under house arrest in Minsk, banned from seeing anybody and going outside. Agents from the KGB, Belarus’ national security agency, reportedly live with him in his room. Pratasevich’s parents, Dmitry and Nataliya, say they do not know what charges their son is facing and told CPJ they are concerned about him.

    By late 2021, Belarusian authorities had closed down most prominent independent media outlets and popular social media channels, branding them “extremist.” The authorities also targeted organization that help journalists. The Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), an advocacy and trade group that is a partner of CPJ, was ordered to close after 26 years of operations. Its leaders continue monitoring press freedom violations from inside Belarus. 

    The Press Club Belarus, which assisted journalists with training, education and capacity building, was shuttered; its head Yulia Slutkskaya and other employees ended up behind bars. They were released only after asking for presidential pardon and paying large fines to cover the taxes they were accused of evading.

    In addition, Belarusian authorities took extra measures to ensure that the information about detainees does not get to local and international media. They forced many lawyers to sign non-disclosure agreements that prevent them from speaking on cases, and stripped some lawyers of their licenses.

    Belarus prison conditions are harsh. Journalists usually share cells with a dozen of other inmates, some with diseases, including COVID-19, or lice. Many have health issues but are not getting the medical treatment they need. Ksenia Lutskina, detained in December 2020 and facing seven years in jail in retaliation for her work as a journalist, has a brain tumor that is growing and causing bad headaches, her father, Aleh Lutksin, told CPJ. She’s been given painkillers but is not allowed to receive tests or medication she needs. (Belarus authorities have not responded to CPJ’s requests for information about any detainees.)

    The current number of journalists behind bars is the highest for Belarus in the three decades since CPJ launched its prison census. Many are facing lengthy prison sentences on retaliatory and anti-state charges, such as treason. 

    The situation for journalists in Belarusian jails is likely to worsen. Every day, there are fewer media outlets and press freedom advocates to report on the journalists’ conditions, upcoming trials, and sentences. Those who continue to do so, like reporters at BAJ, are at risk of imprisonment. Lukashenko’s track record shows he can be expected to use every available tool to continue gagging dissident voices.  


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Gulnoza Said/CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Belarus journalists charged, detained over alleged Facebook interactions with banned outlets

    Vilnius, Lithuania, November 4, 2021 — Belarusian authorities should cease their practice of banning news outlets, and should not punish journalists for allegedly interacting with such banned outlets, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

    On November 1, Belarusian courts convicted two journalists, Iryna Slaunikava and Syarhei Niarouny, on charges of spreading extremism over their alleged interactions with the Facebook pages of Belsat TV and Tut.by, two banned independent news outlets, according to news reports and multiple reports by the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), a local advocacy and trade organization that is also legally banned from operating within the country.

    The Pershamaiski District Court in Minsk sentenced Slaunikava, a Belarus-based journalist and legal representative of the Poland-based independent broadcaster Belsat TV, to 15 days in detention for interacting with broadcaster’s Facebook page, according to those sources.

    Separately, the Krychaw District Court in the country’s eastern region of Mahiliou fined freelance journalist Niarouny 580 Belarusian rubles (US$235) for “spreading extremist content” by liking Tut.by’s Facebook posts last year, according to news reports and those BAJ statements, which added that Niarouny plans to appeal the verdict.

    “Accusing journalists of extremism for simply interacting with the Facebook pages of Belsat TV and Tut.by is a new low, even considering Belarusian authorities’ long campaign against the independent press,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “Authorities should release Iryna Slaunikava immediately, not contest Syarhei Niarouny’s appeal, and cease harassing members of the press.” 

    Both Belsat TV and Tut.by covered the anti-government protests in Belarus following the contested August 2020 presidential elections, CPJ has documented.

    Authorities banned access to Tut.by within Belarus in May, and in August labeled it as “extremist,” according to CPJ reporting and news reports; authorities labeled Belsat TV as “extremist” in July, and also blocked its website and social media accounts within Belarus, according to news reports.

    On November 3, the Interior Ministry decreed that any citizens who used “online resources” to support Belsat TV would be considered members of an extremist group, according to media reports and the BAJ. 

    On October 30, authorities at Minsk National Airport detained Slaunikava along with her husband Aliaksandr Loika, who is not a journalist, when they two arrived from a vacation in Egypt; authorities accused Slaunikava, who is also a deputy chair of the BAJ, and her husband of storing articles by Belsat TV on their Facebook pages, according to those BAJ reports and the independent human rights group Viasna. 

    In court, Loika said that he and Slaunikava were transported from the airport to the Akrestina Detention Center in Minsk, and that authorities offered for him to record a “confession video,” which he denied, according to a report by the BAJ.

    At the November 1 hearing, Slaunikava and her husband were charged and convicted of “distributing information containing calls for extremist activity” based on their Facebook activity, and were both sentenced to 15 days in detention, according to that report and Viasna.

    Barys Haretski, the deputy head of the BAJ, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview, said any independent media or journalist can now be labeled “extremist” and punished in Belarus.

     “It is very clear that the authorities seek to crush all independent media completely,” he said.

    Separately, on October 28, Belarusian authorities blocked access to the websites of German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle and Current Time, the Russian-language network run by the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, for allegedly spreading material containing “extremist” content, according to reports by both outlets.

    On October 30, Belarusian authorities also blocked access to the pro-Kremlin Russian news agency Regnum, without issuing any statement explaining that decision, according to news reports.

    And today, the Belarusian Ministry of Information blocked access to the BAJ’s website in Belarus, according to a report by the association, which said that its website continues functioning outside of the country, and that it planned to launch a “mirror” website accessible in Belarus. The ministry also blocked the websites of PEN Belarus and The Writers’ Union, according to Viasna.

    CPJ called the Pershamaiski District Court in Minsk, the Krychaw District Court, and the Interior Ministry for comment, but no one answered.


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Belarusian court bans Tut.by and affiliated news website Zerkalo.io as ‘extremist’

    Stockholm, August 16, 2021 – Belarus authorities should refrain from contesting the appeal of news website Zerkalo.io against its designation as “extremist,” and cease using the country’s anti-extremism laws to stifle independent reporting, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

    On May 18, authorities raided the offices of the independent news website Tut.by, interrogated about 130 members of its staff, blocked the outlet’s website, and detained 15 of its employees and associates for suspected tax evasion, according to CPJ reporting from the time and Anna Kaltygina, former news desk manager at Tut.by, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview.

    Several of the outlet’s employees fled Belarus, and on July 8 launched Zerkalo.io as a temporary replacement for Tut.by, according to Kaltygina, who now works as the acting editor-in-chief of Zerkalo.io. Belarus authorities blocked access to the website within the country immediately after its launch, according to Zerkalo.io.

    On August 13, the Central District Court in Minsk, the capital, granted an application from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to declare all content published by Tut.by and Zerkalo.io as “extremist,” thereby banning both outlets, according to news reports, a statement by the Minsk City Court press service, and Kaltygina.

    “Belarus authorities’ insistence on banning Tut.by, one of the country’s most popular news sources, and its successor Zerkalo.io is emblematic of the government’s brutal drive to obliterate the independent press,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martínez de la Serna, in New York. “Authorities should walk back the unjust designations of the sites as ‘extremist,’ and allow them to work freely.”

    The Ministry of Information will list Tut.by and Zerkalo.io’s websites, social media profiles, and logos on the government’s Republican List of Extremist Materials, the court statement said.

    Once the outlets are added to that list, anyone convicted of producing, storing, or spreading any materials from the websites can be subject to a fine of up to 870 rubles (US$349) or detention for up to 15 days, according to the administrative code of Belarus. Legal entities will be subject to a fine of up to 14,500 rubles (US$5,813) for the same offenses.

    In a statement released following the court’s decision, Zerkalo.io called the decision “unlawful” and “an attempt to erase history,” and vowed to appeal it.

    Kaltygina described Tut.by as Belarus’s largest and most popular news website, with a staff of about 260; the site averaged about 300 million visits a month before the police raid on its offices, according to data shared with CPJ by Kaltygina.

    Kaltygina told CPJ that Zerkalo.io staff see the designation as a sign that they are doing a good job, and said they plan to continue working as normal and hope to one day be able to reestablish Tut.by in Belarus.

    In an August 13 statement on Telegram, Interior Ministry spokesperson Olga Chemodanova stated that an expert commission had concluded the sites and their social media accounts functioned as “an arena for the propaganda of extremist activity, aimed at stoking social discord or strife, organizing and staging mass disturbances, and inciting political and ideological discord.”

    Zerkalo.io has covered the mass protests against Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko’s government, which began last August, and has reported on trials of individuals arrested during the demonstrations.

    CPJ emailed the Interior Ministry of Belarus for comment, but did not receive any reply.

    Belarus authorities previously designated the Poland-funded broadcaster Belsat TV and the sports news website Tribuna.com as “extremist,” according to news reports.


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Belarus police continue newsroom raids, target journalists’ association

    Stockholm, July 15, 2021 – Belarusian authorities must cease their raids on independent news outlets and press freedom groups, and refrain from charging or imprisoning journalists over their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

    Early yesterday morning, Belarusian law enforcement officers raided the Minsk headquarters of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), a local advocacy and trade organization, according to news reports and BAJ Deputy Director Aleh Aheyeu, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview.

    Last week, CPJ documented law enforcement raids on at least three news outlets and the arrests of at least seven journalists. Since then, officials have raided the offices of at least four more outlets and harassed more than 20 journalists, according to news reports and information published on BAJ’s website and Telegram channel.

    Belarusian authorities have repeatedly cracked down on the press since protests swept the country following Aleksandr Lukashenko’s contested presidential election victory in August, as CPJ has documented. At a meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on July 13, Lukashenko said authorities were actively pursuing civil society organizations “and so-called Western media,” according to reports.

    “The ruthless raids on independent journalists and advocacy groups in Belarus demonstrate that President Aleksandr Lukashenko is intent on completely stifling critical reporting,” said Robert Mahoney, CPJ’s deputy executive director, in New York. “Belarusian authorities must stop this campaign of repression, immediately release all journalists in custody, and cease harassing members of the press.”

    Aheyeu told CPJ that a BAJ employee arrived at the association’s office at 10 a.m. yesterday and found a sign posted on the door, which had its lock broken; the sign, from the Interior Ministry, stated that no one was allowed to enter the office.

    None of BAJ’s staff have returned to the premises for fear of possible arrest, he said, and authorities have not disclosed any information or reason for the raid. Aheyeu said he did not know if police had seized anything from the office.

    Aheyeu added that no representatives from BAJ or the company that owns the building were present during the search, as required by law, and that the association intended to file a complaint to the Belarusian Investigative Committee.

    Also yesterday, authorities raided at least 15 other civil society organizations, including the Belarusian PEN center, the local branch of the international free expression organization, according to news reports.

    On July 9, law enforcement officers raided the editorial offices of the independent news website Silnie Novosti in the southeastern town of Homel; independent newspaper Hantsavitski Chas, in Hantsavichy; and independent news website Inform-progulka in Luninets, and seized equipment and documents, according to news reports, BAJ, and posts on Telegram by Silnie Novosti.

    On that date, law enforcement officers also searched and confiscated equipment and documents from at least 17 journalists and media workers at their homes, according to those sources, including:

    • Pyotr Kuznyatsou, founder and director of Silnie Novosti
    • Hanna Yakshtash, chief editor of Silnie Novosti
    • Irina Volskaya, editor of Silnie Novosti
    • Pavel Kuznyatsou, Natallya Suslava, Yuriy Hlushakou, Katsyaryna Teliman, Alyaksei Shkurau, Sniazhana Pahodzina, and Dzyanis Yaktash, reporters at Silnie Novosti
    • Pavel Doylid, chief editor at the independent news website Pershiy Region
    • Aleh Supruniuk, editor at Pershiy Region
    • Andrei Kukharchik, editor of news website Virtualniy Brest
    • Maksim Klyabets, reporter at the independent news website Natatnik.by
    • Nastasya Zanko, reporter at the independent news website Onliner.by
    • Maryna Mauchana, reporter at the independent news website Bobruyskiy Kurier
    • Anatol Hatouchyts, a freelance journalist

    In those raids, police also targeted Yauhenia Kryshchuk, head of advertising at Silnie Novosti, those sources said.

    Police questioned Zanko and Supruniuk and released them later the same day, according to these sources. Aheyeu told CPJ that he did not believe any of the other journalists had been detained, and that to his knowledge none of them had been charged with a crime.

    On July 13, law enforcement officers searched the editorial office of the news website Mahilyou Region at the home of its chief editor, Zmitser Salauyou, seized computers and other storage media, and summoned Salauyou for questioning the following day, according to the same news reports and information from BAJ.

    Officers in Brest also searched the homes of Darya Harashchanka, publisher of the online magazine Binokl; Ksenia Pyatovich, the magazine’s editor; and freelance photographer Volha Latyshava, those sources said.

    Authorities took Harashchanka to the Leninskiy District police station for questioning and later released her, and confiscated her phone, according to the same sources. Aheyeu told CPJ that none of the journalists subjected to searches on July 13 have been formally charged with any crime.

    Also on July 13, police searched the home of Silnie Novosti accountant Anna Strelchenko, seized equipment and documents, and took her to a local police station for questioning, before releasing her without charge, according to the same sources and Aheyeu. Today, the outlet announced that its website was experiencing technical problems.

    Four of the people arrested in the raids that CPJ documented on July 8 – Yahor Martsinovich, chief editor of the independent newspaper Nasha Niva; the outlet’s marketing director, Andrei Skurko; and chief editor of the affiliated publication Nasha Historia, Andrei Dynkol as well as the newspaper’s chief accountant Volha Rakovich — remain in detention, according to BAJ and reports, which said that they are facing charges of organizing or participating in actions grossly violating public order.

    Nasha Niva’s editorial team has relocated outside of the country and is continuing to publish online, those reports said.

    Security officers allegedly beat Martsinovich during his arrest, giving him a head injury, according to reports, which stated that an ambulance was called to give him medical treatment.

    Police previously raided BAJ’s headquarters in February as part of an investigation into alleged violations of public order, as CPJ documented at the time, and Aheyeu said that it was likely that yesterday’s search was part of a similar investigation.

    Those convicted of violating order can face up to three years in prison under the Belarusian criminal code. It remains unclear if any of the association’s staff face charges under this article, he said.

    Aheyeu described the raid of BAJ’s headquarters as “senseless,” since the authorities already have access to virtually the entirety of the association’s records following the February raid and a June demand from the Justice Ministry to hand over thousands of documents dating back to 2018 for auditing.

    Aheyeu told CPJ that the Justice Ministry informed BAJ today that it had been issued with a “warning” as a result of the audit, and that two warnings within the space of a year could lead to the cancellation of the organization’s registration.

    Separately, authorities today extended the detention of 15 employees of the independent news website Tut.by, according to reports. Police in Minsk arrested more than a dozen Tut.by staff members in May, in an investigation into alleged tax evasion by the outlet, as CPJ documented at the time.

    CPJ emailed the Investigative Committee of Belarus and the Ministry of Internal Affairs for comment, but did not immediately receive any replies.


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Belarusian authorities raid news outlets, detain journalists amid nationwide crackdown

    New York, July 8, 2021 – Belarusian authorities must release all journalists held in custody for their work and drop all investigations into independent news outlets, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

    Starting this morning, authorities raided at least three news outlets and arrested at least seven journalists nationwide amid a crackdown on the independent media, according to news reports, social media posts, and Barys Haretski, deputy director of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, a trade and advocacy group, who spoke with CPJ in a phone interview.

    Belarusian authorities have repeatedly arrested, jailed, and harassed journalists since protests broke out nationwide last year following a contested August election in which longstanding leader Aleksandr Lukashenko claimed victory, as CPJ has documented.

    “Today’s raids mark a significant escalation in Belarusian President Lukashenko’s war on the independent press,” said Robert Mahoney, CPJ’s deputy executive director. “The president has calculated that he can only stay in power by silencing critical voices and keeping Belarusian citizens in the dark.”

    This morning, officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs raided the office of the independent news website Nasha Niva in Minsk, the capital, according to multiple news reports, social media posts, and Haretski. Officers also raided the apartments of Nasha Niva chief editor Yahor Martsinovich, editor Andrey Skurko, and Andrey Dynko, chief editor of Nasha Niva’s magazine Nasha Istoriya, and transferred the three journalists to a temporary detention center in Minsk, according to those sources.

    Authorities are investigating the three for allegedly “organizing or preparing acts that violate public order” and “mass riots,” according to those reports and Haretski, who said that the officers interrogated the three journalists at the local office of the Investigative Committee state security body before transferring them to detention.

    Martsinovich fell ill during the interrogation and officers called an ambulance for him; he was treated and then the interrogation continued, according to reports and Haretski.

    CPJ could not immediately determine whether authorities confiscated anything during the raids, or whether the journalists have been formally charged.

    Also this morning, the Belarusian Ministry of Information blocked Nasha Niva’s website, and the ministry posted a statement saying that prosecutors accused the outlet of distributing unlawful information.

    Also today, agents of the Belarusian security service, known as the KGB, raided the offices of the independent news websites Brestskaya Gazeta in the western city of Brest and Intex-Press in the western city of Baranovichi, according to reports and Haretski. CPJ could not immediately determine the basis of those raids or whether anyone was arrested.

    Law enforcement officers today also searched the apartments of Alesia Latsinskaya, correspondent for the independent news website Bobr.by in the eastern city of Babruysk, and Zmitser Kazakevich and Vitaly Skryl, both freelance correspondents for the independent broadcaster Belsat TV in the eastern city Vitsebsk, according to news reports and Haretski.

    Haretski told CPJ that Skryl was arrested for allegedly “insulting a government official” and is currently in a detention center in Vitsebsk.

    Kazakevich was not home at the time and was not detained, according to those sources. News reports said that officers raided his home for about three hours in relation to a slander case, and confiscated notebooks, two cameras, and a small red-and-white flag.

    Police briefly held Latsinskaya and then released her after she signed a non-disclosure agreement stating she would not speak about her case, according to reports. CPJ was unable to determine the reason for her arrest.

    Law enforcement officers also detained Zmitser Lupach, a freelance Belsat TV correspondent, while he was being treated at a medical facility in the eastern city of Plisa today, according to reports and Haretski. Authorities also raided his apartment, those reports said. CPJ could not immediately determine why Lupach was arrested or where he was being held.

    Also today, law enforcement officers searched the apartment of Ihar Kazmierczak, a correspondent with the independent news website Orsha.eu, in the eastern city of Orsha, according to reports and Haretski, who said that, following the raid, officers arrested Kazmierczak for alleged property damage.

    Previously, on July 6, police in Brest arrested Aleh Suprunyuk, editor of the independent news website Pershiy Region, for alleged “distribution of extremist materials,” according to news reports, which said he was released the same day pending trial.

    Separately, yesterday a Minsk court upheld a prior decision to recognize materials published by the independent news website Tut.by as “extremist,” according to reports. At least 13 Tut.by employees remain in custody after police arrested them in May for alleged tax evasion, as CPJ reported at the time.

    CPJ emailed the Belarusian Investigative Committee, the Ministry of Information, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs for comments, but did not immediately receive any responses.


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Belarus sentences reporter Hlafira Zhuk to jail, authorities continue to harass journalists

    Vilnius, Lithuania, June 2, 2021 — Belarusian authorities should release journalist Hlafira Zhuk immediately and cease harassing members of the press over their news coverage, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. 

    On May 31, the Maskouski District Court in Minsk, the capital, sentenced Zhuk, a correspondent for the independent news website Narodnaya Volya, to 30 days in detention for allegedly disobeying police while she was covering opposition supporters’ trial on May 14, according to news reports, which said that she is being held in the Akrestsina detention center in Minsk.

    “The jail sentence for journalist Hlafira Zhuk is just the latest evidence that it is next to impossible to report freely in Belarus,” said CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, Gulnoza Said, in New York. “Belarusian authorities should cease harassing and detaining journalists, and should let the media report the news without fear.”

    Since May 30, authorities have also harassed or detained at least five other journalists, according to news reports and journalists who spoke with CPJ. 

    On May 30, police officers in the western city of Hrodna briefly detained Aleksey Shota, editor-in-chief of the independent news website Hrodna.life, according to news reports and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview. 

    Shota said that police officers in plain clothes detained him near his home and confiscated his laptop and three computer drives. Authorities later charged him with “distribution of extremist materials” in relation to content published on Hrodna.life, he said. If convicted, he could face a fine of up to 16,000 Belarusian rubles ($6,300) according to the country’s administrative code. 

    Shota said the charges stemmed from a May 24 article published on Hrodna.life that featured a summary of foreign press coverage of the detention of blogger Raman Pratasevich, which also included the logo of channel Pratasevich’s Telegram channel NEXTA, which authorities consider to be an “extremist” symbol. He said Hrodna.life took down the image later that day, but police had already seen it.

    Shota told CPJ that police considered Hrodna.life special projects editor Irina Novik directly responsible for publishing the article and the logo. Police raided Novik’s home on June 1, arrested her, and charged her with “distribution of extremist materials, containing calls to extremist activity,” according to Shota and news reports. Shota said he believed she would be sentenced in the next few days.

    On May 31 the national prosecutor general’s office sent an official letter to Aksana Kolb, the editor-in-chief of independent newspaper Novy Chas, warning her that the outlet had “used certain expressions and certain speech that contributes to the escalation of tension in society, incites hatred and enmity against government officials,” according to a report by Novy Chas and Kolb, who spoke to CPJ by phone.

    Kolb told CPJ that “these allegations are ridiculous,” but called the letter “a sign that more severe punishment may follow.”

    Also on May 31, a Minsk city court dismissed an appeal for the release of independent news website Tut.by editor-in-chief Maryna Zolatava and business reporter Elena Tolkacheva, according to reports. The two were first arrested on tax evasion charges on May 18, as CPJ documented at the time. If convicted, they could face up to seven years in prison and fines, according to the Belarusian criminal code. 

    CPJ is also investigating today’s sentencing by the Oktyabrski District Court, in Minsk, of Dzmitry Ruto, a reporter with the news website Tribuna. According to multiple reports by his employer, officers detained Ruto yesterday after finding in his car a white and red scarf, the colors associated with anti-government protests. He was charged and convicted with illegally organizing mass events, and sentenced to 15 days in detention today, according to those reports. CPJ was unable to immediately determine whether the charge was retaliation for his journalism.

    Volha Khvoin, head of analysis and information services at the Belarusian Association of Journalists, a local advocacy and trade organization, told CPJ by phone that the recent detentions “indicate that the authorities have chosen a road of repression and journalists are the clear target group.”

    CPJ called the Oktyabrski District Court, Maskouski District Court, and Leninski police station for comment, but the calls rang unanswered or the people who answered refused to comment.

    CPJ also repeatedly called Volha Chemodanava, the head of the press office of the Belarusian Ministry of Interior, but no one answered.


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Belarusian authorities briefly detain 4 Tut.by journalists; at least 13 staff remain in custody

    New York, May 25, 2021 – Belarusian authorities should immediately and unconditionally release all employees of the independent news website Tut.by who remain in custody, and cease harassing the outlet’s employees, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

    Today, police in Minsk, the capital, arrested Tut.by reporters Anastasiya Prudnikava and Dzianis Burkouski, and social media editors Maksim Pushkin and Ala Burkouskaya, according to news reports and Barys Haretski, deputy head of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), a local advocacy and trade group, who spoke with CPJ in a phone interview.

    Officers took the four to the Department of Financial Investigation and released them this evening, according to those sources.

    Aliaksandra Pushkina, Tut.by’s public relations manager, told CPJ in a phone interview that she did not know anything about what happened to the journalists while they were in custody, or whether they have been charged with crimes, because they all signed nondisclosure agreements upon their release and were unable to tell her such details. She added that the journalists did not have access to a lawyer during their detentions.

    At least 13 other Tut.by employees remain in detention following authorities’ crackdown on the outlet on May 18 as part of an investigation into alleged tax evasion, according to CPJ reporting, news reports, BAJ’s database of detained journalists, and Pushkina.

    Pushkina said she expected authorities to announce formal charges in the detainees’ cases on May 28 or else release them, citing the country’s 10-day limit for detentions without charge in criminal cases.

    “Belarusian authorities should immediately release all employees of the Tut.by news website, drop any charges against them, return any seized equipment, and once and for all cease their relentless persecution of members of the press,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Authorities’ continued detentions of Tut.by journalists and staff are clearly aimed at finishing off the outlet after it was decapitated with mass arrests last week. But the more the government tries to threaten journalists into silence, the more such injustices will be exposed.”

    Police raided Prudnikava’s apartment at about 11 a.m. today, confiscated her computer and phones, and detained her, according to news reports and Haretski. She was released shortly before 5 p.m. after signing a nondisclosure agreement, according to those reports.

    At about 11:30, colleagues and friends lost contact with Pushkin, Burkouski, and Burkouskaya, who had been detained and taken to the Department of Financial Investigation, according to those sources, which said that all three were released after signing nondisclosure agreements. Police also confiscated unspecified equipment from the journalists, according to those reports.

    Due to the nondisclosure agreements, CPJ was unable to determine whether their equipment had been returned to them.

    Since May 18, authorities have detained at least 13 other employees of Tut.by, including:

    • Liudmila Chekina, CEO
    • Iryna Rybalka, deputy CEO
    • Maryna Zolatava, chief editor
    • Elena Tolkacheva, business reporter
    • Darya Danilova, director of the startup RocketData, who was working on a project for Tut.by
    • Volha Loika, chief politics and economics editor
    • At least seven non-journalistic employees, including lawyers, accountants, and technical staff

    Pushkina told CPJ that she did not know if the detainees were suspects or witnesses in an investigation, or whether any had been criminally charged, citing their nondisclosure agreements.

    Rybalka, Zolatava, Tolkacheva, and Loika are being held in Valadarskaga detention center in Minsk; Danilova in a K.G.B. detention center, and Checkina in the Akrestsina detention center in Minsk, according to research published by Tut.by and Pushkina, who said that the non-journalist employees are being held in several different detention centers and that some are under house arrest.

    CPJ called Volha Chemadanova, head of the press office of the Belarusian Ministry of Interior, for comment, but she did not answer the phone. CPJ also emailed the Department of Financial Investigation for comment but did not receive any response.


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Belarusian authorities raid 3 offices of Tut.by, detain journalists in tax case

    Vilnius, Lithuania, May 18, 2021 — Belarusian authorities must allow the independent news website Tut.by to work freely, and should immediately and unconditionally release all of its employees in custody, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

    Today, officers of the Belarus Financial Investigation Department raided Tut.by’s headquarters in Minsk, the capital, its regional offices in the western cities of Brest and Hrodna, and the homes of several of its journalists and detained at least three of them, according to news reports. The Financial Investigation Department wrote on its website that the searches were part of an investigation into suspected tax evasion.

    The outlet’s website is currently offline, as are several websites affiliated with Tut.by, according to reports. The Ministry of Information said it blocked the site for posting prohibited information and for collaborating with an unregistered human rights group.

    “Since at least two government entities cited different reasons for raiding and blocking Tut.by and detaining its journalists, it’s clear that authorities’ only real motive is to censor Belarus’ premier independent news website out of fear of its reporting,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “Authorities must release all Tut.by employees immediately and without charge, and should allow the outlet to work freely.”

    Following the searches of their apartments, authorities detained Tut.by editor-in-chief Maryna Zolatava, business reporter Elena Tolkacheva, and Darya Danilova, director of the startup RocketData and the head of an unspecified project affiliated with Tut.by, according to news reports and a statement by RocketData. Authorities seized reporting equipment and other belongings during the raid on Zolatava’s apartment, those reports said.

    CPJ called Tut.by’s office and several of its journalists for comment, but no one answered.

    An unnamed official told the independent news website Onliner.by that authorities alleged the company failed to pay value-added taxes in 2020. Since the raid, authorities have covered windows in the outlet’s headquarters with black film to block observers from seeing inside, reports said.

    Tax evasion is punishable up to seven years in prison and fines, according to the Belarusian criminal code. 

    In a statement posted on its website, the Ministry of Information wrote that it had restricted internet access to Tut.by because the prosecutor’s office had “established that Tut.by has multiple times violated the Mass Media law and was posting prohibited information.” The ministry also alleged that Tut.by collaborated with the BYSOL foundation, an unregistered human rights group. 

    CPJ called the Financial Investigation Department and Ministry of Information for comment, but no one answered.

    Volha Khvoin, head of analysis and information services at the Belarusian Association of Journalists, a local advocacy and trade organization, told CPJ by phone that the association was working to determine if any additional journalists had been detained today.

    She said it was “clear that the authorities want to kill Tut.by by all means, as it is the most popular media resource in the country, which intensively covers the protests and violations of human rights in Belarus.”

    In a Telegram post, Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya condemned the raid on Tut.by and accused Belarusian authorities of seeking to “kill media, kill political parties and civic communities.” 

    The EU delegation to Belarus wrote on its Facebook account that Tut.by is a “flagship of Belarusian journalism” and that “freedom of the media must be upheld.”


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Tut.by reporter Lyubov Kasperovich sentenced to 15 days for covering trial

    Vilnius, Lithuania, May 17, 2021 — Belarusian authorities must immediately release journalist Lyubov Kasperovich and stop persecuting members of the press for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

    Today, the Maskouvsky District Court in Minsk, the Belarusian capital, sentenced Kasperovich, a reporter for Belarusian independent news website Tut.by, to 15 days of detention, according to her employer and a report by the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), a local advocacy and trade organization. 

    The court found Kasperovich guilty of participating in a “mass event” under article 24.23 of the country’s administrative code.

    On May 14, Belarusian police detained Kasperovich near Minsk’s Oktyabrsky District Court, where she was covering the trial of a group of 12 young opposition supporters, Tut.by reported. She was detained after she left the court building, the report said.

    “Authorities in Belarus must immediately stop detaining, jailing, or fining journalists who are covering trials and peaceful protests across the country, and release all journalists in custody,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “Lyubov Kasperovich was simply doing her job, and throwing her behind bars won’t stop other journalists from reporting.”  

    Dozens of journalists have been arrested for covering protests and other opposition activity since the August 2020 election, when President Aleksandr Lukashenko was reelected in a vote widely seen as fraudulent, as CPJ has documented. 

    After her arrest, Kasperovich was held in Akrestsin detention center in Minsk for three days. In court today, she said that she and seven others were placed in a prison cell for three people, and had to sleep on bare boards with electric lights on, Tut.by reported.

    Kasperovich participated in the hearing via Skype from the detention center, and the connection was so poor it was difficult to understand the proceedings, according to BAJ and the Tut.by report.

    Tut.by editor-in-chief Maryna Zolatava told CPJ via phone that Kasperovich was on assignment, and that she will appeal. She called the trial “a travesty.”

    CPJ called Volha Chemodanova, the head of the press office of the Belarusian Ministry of Interior, several times but either no one answered or the line was busy.


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.