On 18 May, the Financial Investigation Department raided the homes of journalists working for the independent news portal TUT.BY and other outlets; the TUT.BY website was also blocked. The authorities have a history of targeting TUT.BY journalists.
This statement was originally published on baj.by on 18 May 2021.
On the morning of May 18, officials from the Financial Investigation Department burst into the homes of editors and journalists of the most popular Belarusian portal TUT.BY, as well as AV.BY. The Ministry of Information also blocked the TUT.BY website.
The Belarusian Association of Journalists considers the action a further attack on free speech. For many years, the government has been using economic crime allegations as a pretext for the prosecution and repression of human rights defenders, media, and independent trade unions.
This is not the first attempt to put pressure on the largest and most popular news portal in Belarus. In August 2018, several TUT.BY editors were prosecuted under the so-called “BelTA case”, and the media outlet’s chief editor Maryna Zolatava was convicted in early 2019. At the end of 2020, TUT.BY was deprived of its media status, while different officials repeatedly threatened to block access to the portal.
Today’s actions against the largest and most popular news outlet in the country follow the government’s targeted policy to curb the spread of uncensored information in the country. Since the presidential elections in 2020, dozens of news websites and media have been blocked, and a number of publications were forced to stop publishing. As of the morning of May 18, there are 16 journalists and media professionals behind bars, and 11 of them face criminal charges.
A week ago, representatives of the media sector signed a joint statement entitled “Stop the witch-hunt!”. The persecution of TUT.BY and AV.BY shows that this call has not yet been heard.
The Belarusian Association of Journalists calls on authorities to immediately stop the attack on TUT.BY, AV.BY, RABOTA.BY and end repression against journalists and media in Belarus.
