Belarus: Pressure On TUT.BY Escalates, CFWIJ Demands Journalists Release Immediately
Location: Belarus, Minsk
Date: May 26, 2021
Massive crackdown against the independent news website Tut.by follows more detentions. Four journalists, two of them women, were detained in Minsk on May 25 and released in the evening. The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) is deeply concerned about the deteriorating state of press freedom and safety of journalists. We demand Belarusian authorities to release journalists who remain behind bars for more than a week and end the intimidation against Tut.by.
Tut.by reporter Anastasiya Prudnikava and social media editor Ala Burkouskaya were detained on May 25 and taken to the Department of Financial Investigation as a part of a previous investigation launched against the news outlet. The journalists were released shortly in the evening.
Reporter Anastasiya’s house was also searched during her detention, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ). Her husband said, the financial investigation officers visited and searched their house and explained that the investigation is being carried out as part of the Tut.by case. The reporter was released after the police raid and a non-disclosure agreement was taken from her. The officers also seized all equipment - laptop and phones of the journalist and her husband.
Ala was also released after she signed the same agreement which Anastasiya signed. During her detention, her house was also searched and officers confiscated her equipment.
Both journalists did not have access to reach a lawyer during their detentions.
On May 18, the offices of TUT.BY media and the house of its editor-in-chief Marina Zolotova were raided by the Belarusian state authorities under the guise of tax evasion. The media company's website was also blocked at the time of the raids. Financial Investigation officials explained that a criminal case was filed over charges of evasion of taxes and fees on a large scale. During the raid, editor Marina Zolotova’s door was broken during the raid and eyewitnesses said there was a lot of noise and rumbling. Reporter Daria Buryakina was prevented from answering her phone. Journalist Elena Tolkacheva’s house was also searched by the police.
After the massive crackdown against Tut.by, 13 employees, in which six of them women, of the outlet, remains in custody:
Lyudmila Chekina, general director
Irina Rybalko, Deputy General Director for General Issues
Marina Zolotova, editor-in-chief
Olga Loyko, editor-In-Chief of the political and economic news
Elena Tolkacheva, business reporter
Darya Danilova, director of the startup RocketData, who was working on a project for Tut.by
Since the dubious presidential election of August 9, 2020, the dust has yet to settle in Belarus. Following the election results, which reaffirmed “Europe’s last dictator”, Alexander Lukashenko, in power, Belarus tightened its restrictions on journalists.
The CFWIJ reported at least five different cases against journalists in Belarus within a month. On May 13, police detained photographer Tatsyana Kapitonava while she was covering a conference at Startup Family coworking centre, in Minsk. Police took the photographer when she was filming the Emerge conference. After her appearance in the court, Tatsyana was sentenced to 10 days of detention over charges of participating unauthorised demonstration.
Also, Tut.by reporter Lyubov Kasperovich found guilty over the same charge Tatsyana was convicted of. She was sentenced to 15 days of detention on May 17.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is extremely concerned about the latest storm of crackdown against journalists in Belarus. We find the underlying reason for journalists to sign a disclosure agreement is solely a part of the unlawful proceedings against them. We strongly condemn these practices attempting to intimidate journalists and demand the return of the journalists’ equipment. We urge the global community to take action against the human rights violations rampant in the country.
The CFWIJ strongly condemns the police brutality against journalists. We demand the immediate return of the press cards seized from the security forces. Policies to intimidate journalists should be abandoned, and journalism should be practiced under the criteria of freedom of the press.
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