Authorities complete Tut.by case investigation

November 17, BPN. A criminal case against employees and managers of the dismantled Tut.by news portal is soon to be forwarded to the prosecutors, Aleh Šandarovič, the first deputy chair of the Investigative Committee, has told BelTA.

Tax evasion remains the major charge, while some of the defendants also face extremism-related charges, he noted.

Almost all of the defendants have asked Alaksandr Łukašenka for a pardon and have “compensated the damages in full,” he said.

Authorities arrested 15 Tut.by employees in May 2021. All except CEO Ludmiła Čekina and editor-in-chief Maryna Zołatava were released from custody after agreeing to cooperate with the investigation, according to the Investigative Committee.

One exception is Darja Daniłava, sentenced to 16 months in prison and released in the courtroom, as she had spent about as much time in jail pending trial.

Part of the team left Belarus in July 2021 to launch Zerkalo.io, a news website that largely follows in the footsteps of Tut.by. Belarus and Russia have blocked access to the website. On top of that, Belarus declared it extremist content.

On June 14, 2022, the Minsk Economic Court designated Tut By Media as an extremist organization, banning its activities in Belarus.

In October, the Committee for State Security (KGB) added Zołatava, Čekina, as well as former tut.by journalists Volha Łojka and Alena Tałkačova to its list of “individuals and entities involved in terrorist activities.”