TUT.BY is a web portal from Minsk, Belarus, in Russian and Belarusian languages.[1] It has been runned since 2000.[1] It is a very big website in the country.[1]

TUT.BY
Type of site
Internet portal
Available inRussian, Belarusian
OwnerTUT BY MEDIA LLC
Created byYuri Zisser
URLtut.by
CommercialYes
RegistrationFree
LaunchedOctober 2000
Current statusoffline

Abstract

change

It is a website to read about the 2020 Belarusian protests and 2020 Belarusian presidential election, more.[1] Because of that, at the end of September 2020, the Ministry of Information of Belarus stopped the TUT.BYs media rights for three months from October 1.[1] The international organization Reporters Without Borders named it a cruel attack on the web portal.[2] The USA together with more than fifty other countries and the EU asked the Belarusian government to stop such attacks.[3][4]

Founder

change

Yuri Zisser (1960–2020) made the website in October 2000.[5] The website worked with digital media rights since January 2019.[5]

Problems

change

Journalist Katsyaryna Barysevich wrote an article about the death of Raman Bandarenka in 2020.[6] She was arrested in Minsk on November 19, 2020.[6] On March 2, 2021, she was sentenced to a half-year in prison and got a fine for that.[7]

On May 18, 2021, the TUT.BY office and the houses of its main people were looked for.[8] It was a result of the just opened TUT.BY tax evasion criminal case.[9] Since that day, the domain name was stopped working, copies of the TUT.BY website and the E-mail system of TUT.BY can't be opened.[8] The Ministry of Information of Belarus made such punishment for "prohibited information" that the website has been having over it.[10] One example of such information was named.[10] It was information of BYSOL.[10] BYSOL is a foundation that helps people who got punishments because of the 2020 Belarusian protests.[10] At least 18 people who worked for TUT.BY were arrested on May 18, 2021.[8]

As of May 25, 2021, 12 people were put in isolation centers, including the main editor Maryna Zolatava.[11] As of May 25, 2021, three people, including the widow of Yuri Zisser Julia Charnyauskaya, were under a house arrest.[11] On May 25, 2021, nine organizations (the Viasna Human Rights Centre, the Belarusian Association of Journalists, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee and others) made a statement together.[11] They named all of 15 people political prisoners.[11]

On July 8, 2021, a part of journalists of TUT.BY that was free made the second website Zerkalo.io.[12] They said that this domain name is going to be used until TUT.BY can work in Belarus again.[12] Since July 8, 2021, the website Zerkalo.io can't be opened in Belarus.[13] In August, the Central District court of Minsk recognized both the new and the old projects and their content as extremist materials, which makes its distribution a misdemeanor offense in Belarus.[14]

In June 2022, TUT BY MEDIA was declared extremist by a court in Minsk.[15]

In March 2023, both Zolotova and Chekina were sentenced to 12 years in a general regime penal colony.[16]

In June 2023, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus designated Zerkalo as an extremist formation.[17]

Awards

change

References

change
  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 ČTK (2020-09-29). "Běloruská vláda se snaží umlčet web Tut.by, který pravidelně informuje o protestech" (in Czech). Aktuálně.cz.
  2. "Kritik an Lukaschenkos Medienpolitik" (in German). Reporters Without Borders. 2020-10-06. Archived from the original on 2020-10-06. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  3. "Joint Statement on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus". U.S. Embassy in Belarus. 2020-10-28. Archived from the original on 2020-10-28. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
  4. "Сумесная заява аб сітуацыі з правамі чалавека ў Беларусі" (in Belarusian). Амбасада ЗША ў Беларусі. 2020-10-28. Archived from the original on 2020-10-28. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
  5. 5.0 5.1 "Major Belarusian media founder dead at 59". Belsat. 2020-05-18.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Гуштын, Адар'я (2020-11-27). "Журналиста TUT.BY Катерину Борисевич перевели в СИЗО на Володарского. Письма ей почти не доходят" (in Russian). TUT.BY. Archived from the original on 2020-11-30. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
  7. "Belarus journalist sentenced for report on protester's death". Associated Press. 2021-03-02. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 "TUT.BY, «Трибуна» и еще 9 медиа, которые забанили в Беларуси, – вот как их читать" (in Russian). by.tribuna.com. 2021-05-19. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
  9. "Belarus raids top news site in widening crackdown". BBC News. 2021-05-18. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 "TUT.BY: Independent Belarus media website blocked after series of raids". Euronews. 2021-05-18. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 "Заява аб прызнанні 15 затрыманых па справе TUT.BY палітычнымі зняволенымі" (in Belarusian). Viasna Human Rights Centre. 2021-05-25. Archived from the original on 2021-05-25. Retrieved 2021-05-25.
  12. 12.0 12.1 "«Когда независимых медиа в Беларуси становится меньше, пора запускать новые»: Команда TUT.BY запустила Zerkalo.io" (in Russian). Brestskaya Gazeta. 2021-07-08. Archived from the original on 2021-07-11. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  13. "Massive crackdown on independent media throughout Belarus". Belsat. 2021-07-08. Retrieved 2021-07-08.
  14. "Belarus blacklists blocked media outlet Tut.by and new publication Zerkalo.io as extremist". Meduza. 2021-08-13.
  15. В Белоруссии признали «ТУТ БАЙ МЕДИА» экстремистской организацией
  16. "Twelve years' imprisonment". Meduza. 2023-03-17.
  17. "Belarus: IPI denounces designation of Zerkalo as 'extremist formation'". International Press Institute. 2023-06-13. Archived from the original on 2023-07-09. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
  18. Кепински, Ольга (2021-08-12). "Все награды Free Media Awards присуждены белорусским журналистам" (in Russian). euronews. Archived from the original on 2021-08-12. Retrieved 2021-08-12.

Literature

change

Other websites

change