TUT.BY leadership gets 12 years in jail

On January 17, the Minsk Municipal Court announced the verdict in the case of TUT.BY, the largest news outlet in Belarus TUT.BY. The former editor-in-chief Maryna Zolatava and former general director Liudmila Chekina each received 12 years in jail. The case was considered by judge Valiantsina Ziankevich. The trial was closed to the public and lasted more than two months—a total of 37 sessions were held.

Liudmila Chekina was convicted under three articles of the Criminal Code:

• “tax evasion in a particularly large amount” (Part 2 of Article 243)
• “organization of intentional actions aimed at inciting racial, national, religious or other social hatred that were committed by a group of persons or resulting in grave consequences (part 4 of Article 16 and part 3 of Article 130)
• leading calls to action aimed at harming the national security of the Republic of Belarus with the use of mass media or the internet (part 4 of Article 16 and Article 361)

Maryna Zolatava was convicted of:

• “inciting racial, national, religious or other social hatred by a group of persons or resulting in grave consequences” (part 3 of Article 130)
• calls to actions aimed at harming the national security of the Republic of Belarus with the use of mass media or the internet (part 3 of Article 361)

Other defendants in the case, Volha Loika, Alena Talkachova, and Katsiaryna Tkachentsa, had their measure of restraint changed to a non-custodial one and left Belarus. They were put on the wanted list and are now under investigation in separate criminal proceedings, according to the pro-regime media.