News

Blogger Andrei Pavuk is a suspect in a criminal case under Art. 340 Part 1 of the Criminal. He is suspected of a false report on a bomb in the building of Aktsiabrski  district executive committee. The police seized all computer equipment and devices from Andrei.

Brest-based journalists Ales Lyauchuk and Milana Kharytonava were found guilty of illegal production and distribution of media products, i.e. for contributing to Belsat TV.

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.

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.

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.

On November 26, the Investigation Committee granted the petitions of journalists Uliana Babayed and Tatsyana Karavenkava to replace criminal charges with administrative liability. They were accused of unauthorized access to BelTA computer information.