BelaPAN Staff Summoned For Interrogation In ‘BelTA Case’ En Masse

The authorities are persecuting ten journalists over the "BelTA case".

On September 27, Dzmitry Navazhylau and Raman Salikau were summoned to the Investigatory Committee as witnesses in the "BelTA case". On the same day, Tatsiana Karaviankova, suspected in the case, was summoned for interrogation. On September 28, Iryna Leushyna, editor-in-chief of the BelaPAN, will also go there for interrogation, BelTA learned from the press-center of the Belarusian Association of Journalists.

This week, journalists of the news agency Siarhei Karalevich and Aliaksei Aliaksandrau were also interrogated as witnesses. Last week, on September 21, editor Andrei Serada was summoned for questioning.

As previously reported, ten journalists remain suspects in the "BelTA case". They are suspected of unauthorized access to a paid subscription of the news feed of the state news agency BelTA. As the press-center of the Investigatory Committee reported, these actions caused significant harm and undermined BelTA's business reputation.

Within the framework of the criminal case, the investigators conducted searches in the editorial offices of BelaPAN and tut.by. Some journalists and editors were detained and spent several days in a temporary detention facility in the Akrestsin Street. On August 27, most of them were forbidden to leave Belarus.