Affiliated media: BelaPAN, News agency

Incident date: August 18, 2021

Attack type:

• Search with a court decree

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Belarusian Association of Journalists

Location: Belarus, Minsk

Additional information:

Police conducted searches of the homes of employees of the BelaPAN news agency as part of a criminal case about mass riots and gross violations of public order (342 of the Criminal Code). Three people were detained and placed in a temporary detention facility. A search was also carried out at the BelaPAN editorial office; as a result of which, the editorial server was seized. The BelaPAN website has ceased to operate at the addresses belapan.by and belapan.com both in Belarus and abroad. The Investigative Committee reported that “the investigation audited the activities of BelaPAN, during which violations of tax legislation were identified. After determining the final amount of unpaid taxes, the investigation will give a legal assessment of the actions of the BelaPAN staff under Article 243 (“evasion of taxes and fees”) of the Criminal Code.”