Would moving to Lithuania save a blocked Belarusian news portal?

Belarusian security officials conducted a search on Tuesday. Tut. For editorial office and at the home of several journalists from the portal. It is reported that 11 journalists have been arrested and that the website has been blocked so far.

According to the Belarusian Ministry of Information, the General Prosecutor’s Office has identified a number of violations of the media law, including the publication of prohibited information in various Tut. For Publications.

Those articles provided information on the unregistered Belarusian Solidarity Fund (BYSPOL), which raises funds for victims of repression by the authoritarian regime in Minsk.

TUT BY Media, the company that operates the portal, is reported to have been prosecuted for allegedly unpaid charges.

Maxim Milta, an analyst at the Center for Eastern European Studies, says Tut. For It is one of the most fundamental and sustainable parts of the Belarusian Internet segment. It differs from other independent media in that it has so far been able to combine successful businesses with very high-quality journalism.

“In 20 years Tut. For has become not only a breakthrough for the entire industry, but also a benchmark for virtually the entire Belarusian creative industries sector “, 15 minutes said the analyst.

M.Milta points out that TUT BY Media has also established a major gallery for artists, in addition, the company also owns the main car sales platform in Belarus, the administrator of the domain “.by” Hoster.by.

According to the analyst, the Lukashenko regime seeks to seize him Tut. For, occupying more than 60 percent. Belarusian Internet market segment and silence the last journalistic bastion of this scale in Belarus.

“I think the goal is to do the same as Belgazprombank. When the Department of Financial Investigations sues for alleged tax evasion, although everyone is aware that these cases are unfounded.

Finally, an administration directly subordinate to the regime and loyal is introduced, and the shareholders are eliminated from the administration. Even the main shareholder (Russian energy concern – ed.) “Gazprom” could not stop it, “said M. Milta.

Belgazprombank came to the forefront of law enforcement last spring when Viktaras Babaryka, who had been in his charge for many years, announced his aspiration to become a candidate in the presidential election and received strong public support during the campaign.

Milta says she is not sure if a form will be discovered that allows Tut. For continue operations.

„Tut. For The Belarusian address is not yet available, which will be crossed directly through ad revenue. Just yesterday Tut. For The audience on the Telegram channel passed 395 thousand. up to 500 thousand, but the technical possibilities are incomparable ”, he said.

Would you move to Lithuania?

After blocking Tut. For, Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis announced on Twitter that Lithuania is ready to offer asylum to all who request it.

M. Milta is also considering that the editorial office could be moved to Lithuania.

“If Lithuania managed to provide shelter 16 years ago to the only and at that time the largest Belarusian private university, the European University of Humanities, and it is still located in Vilnius and fulfilling its mission, maybe there would be an opportunity in Lithuania to host? The largest and most reliable Belarusian news portal? “He said.

According to the analyst, after hijacking Russia’s main independent news portal Lentu.ru, his team established the “Meduza” news portal in Latvia. It is true that the media, which have been operating successfully since 2014, are currently under great pressure, as they have been included in the list of “foreign agents”.

Transfer abroad Tut. For it wouldn’t necessarily help you survive in the long run, says Milta.

“If the media wants to be independent, even from donor funding, the only way to retain a wide audience is to be able to make money from advertising.

Understanding the current market conditions and conditions, if you are abroad, for example, in Vilnius or Warsaw, it is not possible. Portals of other European capitals such as kuku.org, The Village does important work, but they are niche in scale Tut. For“- said M. Milta.

According to the analyst, such Tut. For the model of combining business with ensuring an independent editorial policy has “come to an end in the long run.”

“In the short term, we can help first with the fact that there are now 15 journalists behind bars in Belarus. Let’s start with them: sending a basic letter of support is an expression of solidarity.

There is pressure on international formats and organizations, such as the European Broadcasting Union, of which the Belarusian state-owned radio and television propaganda company remains a full member. ” 15 minutes he said.

According to Milta, efforts must be made to ensure that Belarus respects its obligations to international human rights organizations, which is only possible with the application of far-reaching sanctions.

Persecuted journalists

Milta assures that the scale of repression against Belarusian independent journalists is growing.

“This is a very consistent and clear visible trend. At the end of December, the founders and the team of the Minsk Press Club were arrested. Press clubs are a kind of platform for journalists to develop the skills and competencies of freelance journalists.

In the winter, we saw records both at the headquarters of the Belarusian Journalists Association and other journalists, their arrests, ”said the analyst.

He was released on Wednesday Tut. For journalist Kaciaryna Barysevic, who spent half a year in prison. She was convicted of revealing confidential information about the circumstances of the death of a protester arrested by the militia.

Barysevich, described by Milta as one of Belarus’s top investigative journalists, confirmed that activist Roman Bandarenka, who was killed by officials in November, was sober, contrary to the regime’s claims.

In February, a court sentenced two journalists from Belsat, Kaciaryna Bachvalava and Darja Chulcova, to two years in prison for allegedly protesting against de facto Belarusian leader Aliaksandr Lukashenko of the organization.

Belarus is ranked 153rd out of 180 on the Reporters Without Borders index of press freedom. The organization’s 2020 report says that the country’s critical journalists and bloggers are being threatened, detained, and blocked by major independent media.

After the announcement in August last year that the autocrat Aliaksandr Lukashenko had been re-elected as president of Belarus by a large majority, thousands of Belarusians took to the streets. The protesters were forcibly chased, massively detained and tortured in isolation.

The media were also affected. In August, the officer intentionally shot Natalia Lubnevskaya, a journalist for the Nasha Niva newspaper, with a rubber bullet.

According to the Union of Journalists of Belarus, in 2020 there were 477 cases of arrests of media workers in the country. It was tested last fall on one of the biggest news portals. Tut. For deprive the media of their status.

The European Council on Tuesday called on the Belarusian authorities to stop pressuring the media.