Maryna Zolatava

Mary­na Zolata­va, TUT.BY edi­tor-in-chief, behind bars since 18 May 2021

The per­ma­nent (since 2004) edi­tor-in-chief of TUT.BY, Mary­na Zolata­va, was arrest­ed on 18 May 2021 along with 14 oth­er defen­dants in the «TUT.BY case». She was accused of com­plic­i­ty in large-scale tax eva­sion.

All in all, 15 TUT.BY staff mem­bers were remand­ed, includ­ing the edi­to­r­i­al staff, whose work is not con­nect­ed with the eco­nom­ic activ­i­ty of the com­pa­ny, tax pay­ment, or legal aspects. The TUT.BY web­site was blocked for pub­lish­ing «infor­ma­tion pro­hib­it­ed by law.»

On 9 Jan­u­ary 2023, the tri­al began in Min­sk City Court and was held in cam­era. The ver­dict was announced on March 17.

Human rights activists declared Zolata­va a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Sen­tence: 12 years of impris­on­ment under Part 2 of Arti­cle 243 (grand tax eva­sion); Part 3 of Arti­cle 130 (incite­ment of racial, nation­al, reli­gious, or oth­er social hatred); Part 3 of Arti­cle 361 (encour­ag­ing actions aimed at harm­ing the nation­al secu­ri­ty of the Repub­lic of Belarus).

Judge: Valiantsi­na Zianke­vich

Pub­lic pros­e­cu­tor: Tat­siana Hrakun

Birth­day: 6 Novem­ber 1977