“On this day one year ago, May 18, 2021, the Belarusian Ministry of Information blocked access to TUT.by, a media outlet that had lived with us for 20 years. No one in the Ministry of Information even had a second thought, because the Ministry itself had never created a thing. Those people never knew what it's like to love your work and do it honestly, not for the praise from upstairs.
I see people every day who sincerely love what they do. They do something not because they fear punishment, not because it is someone’s order, but because they sincerely love what they do and are even willing to risk for it. You do not need to force them to work or tell them how to do their job. And the Zerkalo.io team is a prime example of such people. A year after the regime's ruthless attack on the country's main media outlet, Zerkalo.io continues the cause and traditions of TUT.by. Thank you for that.
Nevertheless, three people from the TUT.by team are still in jail. Two journalists of Nasha Niva, three of Radio Liberty, two of Belsat, three of Belapan, journalists of Komsomolskaya Pravda, Tribuna.com, Gazeta Wyborcza, Novy Chas, Pershy Rehiyon, Yezhednevnik, Belarusian Yearbook, Intex-press – 25 journalists still remain in jail.
And we must not forget the cost of being an honest journalist in a dictatorship. Today, I would like to remind you how important it is to support all free media, which exist and develop only thanks to brave professionals, faithful leaders and, of course, caring readers. These people guard the truth every day, because it is the truth that brings us closer to the free Belarus we dream of, where we all do what we love and no one else can stop us from doing it”.
