Media in the Brest Region
Media in the Brest Region
Data correct as of 26.05.2022
Brestskaya gazeta
No. |
Date |
Form of repression |
Description |
1. |
30 November 2020 |
Ban on printing |
A Brest printing house refused to print Brestskaya gazeta as of 1 January 2021, breaking its contract with the newspaper.
Printing houses all over Belarus refused to work with the non-governmental regional publication. The newspaper stopped publishing.
On January 15, the editorial board informed the Ministry of Information about the suspension of the mass media for a period of six months. |
2. |
19 January 2021 |
Written warning |
Editor-in-chief Viktar Marchuk was summoned to the prosecutor’s office and received a warning. |
3. |
8 July 2021 |
Property search |
The Investigative Committee searched the newspaper’s editorial office, equipment was seized. |
4. |
26 November 2021 |
Declaring website content extremist |
The Leninski District Court of Brest ruled to recognize the content of the Brestskaya gazeta website as extremist. |
Data correct as of 29.06.2022
Binokl
No. |
Date |
Form of repression |
Description |
1. |
26 January 2021 |
Property search |
The home of Binokl publisher was searched under the case of grand tax evasion. Laptops, flash drives, phones, and seals were seized.
The apartment of the Binokl director was also searched. Documents and equipment were seized in the office of the publisher’s wife, too. The inspection was carried out in several legal entities associated with the family. Documents, laptops, seals, and notebooks were seized. |
2. |
27 January 2021 |
Liquidation of the media |
The publication has been liquidated, and the Binokl Telegram channel has been handed over to the state media. The staff was dissolved. |
3. |
17 June 2022 |
Declaring content extremist |
In June 2021, unknown persons hacked the Binokl Telegram channel and renamed it to Brest-Live.
On 17 June 2022, the Leninski District Court of Brest recognized the content of the Brest-Live Telegram channel as extremist.
|
Data correct as of 26.05.2022
Hantsavitski chas
No. |
Date |
Form of repression |
Description |
1. |
29 December 2020 |
Property search |
The Investigative Committee searched the editorial office of the publication. The search also took place in the home of editor-in-chief Piotr Huzayeuski. |
2. |
9 July 2021 |
Property search |
The Investigative Committee searched the editorial office of the publication.
In all, more than 15 searches and inspections were conducted in the Hantsavitski chas editorial office and employees’ homes in 2021. |
3. |
27 December 2021 |
Declaring website extremist |
The website of the regional publication is recognized as extremist. The newspaper’s social media are still legal. |
4. |
2 January 2021 |
Website blocking |
The Prosecutor’s Office in Brest revealed repeated violations of the Law on Mass Media of the Republic of Belarus. |
5. |
16 January 2022 |
Fine |
The Court in Hantsavichi fined the owner of the website for spreading extremist information and imposed a fine of $4,500. |
Data correct as of 26.05.2022
Intex-press
No. |
Date |
Form of repression |
Description |
1. |
19 July 2021 |
Warning by prosecutor |
The Intex-press editor-in-chief received a prosecutor’s warning for publishing an interview with Sviatlana Tikhanouskaya. On 22 April 2021 administrative proceedings were initiated against him. He was punished with a maximum fine. |
2. |
28 April 2021 |
Refusal to distribute newspaper |
Belposhta did not include the publication in the subscription catalog and refused to sell the newspaper. |
3. |
29 April 2021 |
Declaring content extremist |
The interview with Sviatlana Tikhanouskaya was recognized as an extremist article. |
4. |
5 May 2021 |
Warning by Ministry of Information |
The Ministry of Information issued a warning to the Intex-press newspaper. Belsayuzdruk also refused to sell the publication. |
5. |
5 May 2021 |
Fine |
The Brest Regional Economic Court fined the Baranavichy newspaper $1,740 under part 4 of Art. 23.5 of the Administrative Offenses Code. The court found the media guilty of «spreading information that is prohibited for dissemination.»
|
6. |
9 May 2021 |
Refusal to print newspaper |
The Belarusian Press House refused to print the Intex-press newspaper. The contract was terminated unilaterally by the printing house on 9 May 2021. |
7. |
8 July 2021 |
Property search |
The editorial office was searched by KGB officers. Equipment was seized. The search was conducted as part of the investigation of a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 289 of the Criminal Code (an act of terrorism committed repeatedly or by a group of persons in collusion). |
8. |
29 December 2021 |
Website blocking |
The site was blocked. The editorial office received a copy of the decision of the Minister of Information informing that the website was blocked for «violation of the Law on Mass Media regarding the dissemination of information that is prohibited.» |
9. |
12 May 2022 |
Property search |
The Intex-press editorial office was searched in connection with the case of the detained political prisoner Yury Hantsarevich, who was charged under part 1 of Article 361–4 of the Criminal Code (promotion of extremist activity). As a result of the search, photographic equipment was seized.
|
Data correct as of 29.05.2022
Inform-progulka
No. |
Date |
Form of repression |
Description |
1. |
9 July 2021 |
Property search |
The Investigative Committee searched the editorial office of the publication. |
|
29 July 2021 |
Refusal to print newspaper |
The Inform-progulka newspaper stopped being printed.
The printing house has terminated the contract with the editorial office.
|
|
21 September 2021 |
Fine |
The Brest Region Economic Court fined Inform-progulka $1,160 for harming the national interests of the Republic of Belarus. |
Data correct as of 29.05.2022
Media-Polesye
No. |
Date |
Form of repression |
Description |
1. |
6 April 2020 |
Warning |
The Ministry of Information issued a warning to the owner of the online media Media-Polesye (media-polesye.by) for publishing inaccurate information in an article on coronavirus. |
|
3 August 2020 |
Administrative report |
A report was drawn up against the Media-Polesye publication for «threatening the national security of the country.»
The article about Sviatlana Tikhanouskaya in Media-Polesye allegedly «harmed the national interests of the Republic of Belarus, contributed to the aggravation of social tension in society, created panic moods, lead to mass misinformation of the population, and violated the constitutional right of citizens to receive complete, reliable, and timely information.»
|
|
17 November 2020 |
Fine |
The court fined Media-Polesye
|
|
9 July 2021 |
Property search |
As part of a terrorist criminal case, the KGB investigative teams searched the office of Media-Polesye, as well as the homes of the editor-in-chief and editorial staff. |
|
20 July 2021 |
Trial |
An administrative trial was held against Media-Polesye because of the publication about the participants of the «Pinsk massacre» (the public unrest in Pinsk following the election day). On 28 July 2021, the Luninets District Court punished Media-Polesye with a fine of $2,300 for rewriting an article about the «Pinsk massacre.»
|
|
8 April 2022 |
Declaring content extremist |
The court recognized the content of Media-Polesye website, as well as VKontakte and Odnoklassniki groups, as extremist. |