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On March 4 Zavadski court of Minsk imposed a fine of 7, 650 BYN and BelTA's court costs of 6, 000 BYN on Maryna Zolatava, the chief editor of the most popular Belarusian Internet portal Tut.by, for "dereliction of duty" (Art. 425 of the Criminal Code). The verdict has not become final yet.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the heavy fine that a court in Minsk imposed today on Maryna Zolatava, the editor of the leading news website Tut.by. The fine is just one more attempt to intimidate the few remaining independent media outlets in Belarus, RSF said.

Zavodski district court of Minsk has announced the verdict to Maryna Zolatava, the chief editor of the portal Tut.by. Zolatava has been found guilty of dereliction of duty, which resulted in significant harm to the state and public interests. Maryna Zolatava must pay a fine of 300 base values (7,650 BYN). Zolatava is restricted from leaving the country before the judgment enters into legal force. In addition, Maryna Zolatava must also pay BelTA 6,000 BYN of sue charges. Hard drives, laptops, a mobile phone, and system unit will be returned to her. The court also ruled to return the equipment seized during the searches to the editors of Tut.by.

It's been a week since the start of the trial against chief editor of Tut.by Maryna Zolatova. For five days, the court has ben questionning witnesses and representatives of the injured parties.

The trial of Maryna Zolatava, editor-in-chief of the popular news portal TUT.BY, will start on February, 12 in Minsk.

Olga Vallee, FOJO Media Institute program coordinator arrived in Minsk at the invitation of the Belarusian Association of Journalists. She was supposed to have a meeting with young journalists.

Declaration of the Strategy of Independent Media sector in Belarus for 2019-2024 was signed in BAJ office. More than 30 people put their signatures on the document. Anyone who shares the ideas and values articulated in the Strategy can join.

BAJ joined the letter of MEPs and Sakharov Prize winners asking the EU leaders to demand the immediate release of the four Sakharov Prize laureates.    

On December 10, International Human Rights Day, Belarusian human rights organizations named the winners of the 2018 National Award for achievements in the field of human rights. The award ceremony took place in the new Territory of Rights public space that opened in Minsk the same day.

On International Human Rights Day, representatives of the Belarusian Association of Journalists visited Vienna where they met with the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir and President of the Austrian branch of the Reporters without Borders Rubina Mohring.

The criminal prosecution of BelaPAN Chief Editor Iryna Leushyna in the so-called “BelTA case” has been stopped. TUT.by editor-in-chief Maryna Zolatava remains the only accused person in the case.