Supreme Court upholds lengthy prison sentences to tut.by heads

July 31, BPN. The Supreme Court has rejected appeals by Tut.by editor in chief Maryna Zołatava and CEO Ludmila Čekina against lengthy prison sentences, its press office reports.

The judge held the appeal hearing behind closed doors.

In May 2021, police raided Tut.by offices and arrested 15 journalists. All except Zołatava and Čekina were released later after agreeing to cooperate with investigators.

On March 17, the Minsk City Court sentenced Zołatava and Čekina to 12 years in prison on charges of inciting hatred, calling for sanctions and tax evasion.

Former Tut.by editor Volha Łojka, journalist Alena Tałkačova and lawyer Kaciaryna Tkačenka did not show up for the trial and are now on the wanted list.

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

In June, Łojka launched her own media project Plan B. Less than two months later, Belarusian authorities blacklisted it as extremist content.