TUT.BY

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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

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]

Abstract[change | change source]

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 | change source]

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

Problems[change | change source]

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 | change source]

References[change | change source]

  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 | change source]

Other websites[change | change source]