RSF - Reporters sans frontières

12/13/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 12/14/2025 20:52

Maryna Zolatava is free ! RSF welcomes the release of the Tut.by journalist after more than 4 years in detention in Belarus

Belarusian journalist Maryna Zolatava was released from prison on December 13, along with 122 other political prisoners. It is not yet clear whether any other media professionals were among those released. Reporters without borders (RSF), which has long campaigned for the release of Maryna Zolatava and her colleagues, welcomes this announcement and hopes that all detained journalists will soon be freed.

"RSF welcomes with immense relief the release of Belarusian journalist Maryna Zolatava, who was unjustly imprisoned for more than four years for independently carrying out her work at Tut.by. However, her release illustrates the cynicism of Alexander Lukashenko's regime, which continues to use political prisoners and journalists jailed for their work as a genuine bargaining chip in diplomatic negotiations. RSF calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all detained journalists and for an end to the systematic repression of independent information."

Jeanne Cavelier
Head of the RSF Eastern Europe and Central Asia Desk

Maryna Zolatava was most recently editor-in-chief of the independent online media outlet Tut.bybefore its office was seized and the outlet was shut down by the authorities. The journalist was arrested in May 2021 and sentenced in 2023to twelve years in a penal colony - allegedly because Zolatava and her colleague, Tut.bymanaging director Liudmila Chekina, had "disseminated content calling for actions undermining national security" of Belarus.

The releases came in connection with diplomatic efforts by the US, which lifted sanctions against Belarus in the process. Immediately after their release, all 123 individuals were deported from Belarus, mainly to Ukraine, according to reports by the Belarusian exile media outlet Zerkaloand various international media outlets.

This is already the second wave of political prisoners being released from Belarus this year. In September 2025, nine journalists have been freed. The Polish Foreign Ministry also announced that Polish-Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut, who was recently awarded the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize, was not among those released.

Belarus ranks 166th out of 180 countries in the current Press Freedom Index.

Published on13.12.2025
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