Belarusian_Investigative_Center

Belarusian Investigative Center

Belarusian Investigative Center

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The Belarusian Investigative Center (BIC) is an independent media outlet specializing in analytical genres of journalism. The center produces five types of expertise - journalistic research, anti-fake, as well as analytical reporting, news programs and economic surveys.[1]

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History

The Belarusian Investigative Center was established in 2018.[2] The team of the center left Belarus in 2021, when the Belarusian authorities began to actively repress various media outlets and arrest journalists. The BIC studio in Minsk was also searched, after which most of the team went abroad.[1]

On June 29, 2021, the website of the BIC was blocked.[1]

In October 2022, according to the Minsk city prosecutor's office, information products of the Belarusian Investigative Center, as well as logos containing the abbreviation "BIC" and the words "Belarusian Investigative Center" were recognized as "extremist materials".[3]

In December 2022, the Belarusian Investigative Center joined the Global Investigative Journalism Network. Earlier this year, the center became a member of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.[4]

On September 15, 2023, the Belarusian Supreme Court has recognized the Belarusian Investigative Center as an "extremist organization."[5]

Investigations

In January 2022, the Belarusian Investigative Center together with Re:Baltica, Delfi Estonia published an investigative material in which they showed a three-fold increase in oil exports from Belarus to Estonia when comparing the figures for 2021 and 2020. On February 4, 2022, Estonia announced the introduction of additional sanctions against Belarus in the form of suspension of coal oil transit.[6]

After a joint investigation of BIC and The Guardian, the British authorities froze the London property of Said Gutseriev, the son of Lukashenka's "wallet" Mikhail Gutseriev, worth 200 million dollars.[7]

In December 2022, businessman Saulius Girchys, who participated in the scheme of illegal sale of Belarusian forest to the EU through Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, was expelled from his political party as a result of the investigation by the BIC.[8]

After a joint investigation with Siena into ways of circumventing sanctions against Grodno Azot, Lithuania seized Belarusian fertilizers worth millions of euros and strengthened border controls.[9]

In November 2023, Belarusian Investigative Center joined with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Paper Trail Media [de] and 69 media partners including Distributed Denial of Secrets and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and more than 270 journalists in 55 countries and territories[10][11] to produce the 'Cyprus Confidential' report on the financial network which supports the regime of Vladimir Putin, mostly with connections to Cyprus, and showed Cyprus to have strong links with high-up figures in the Kremlin, some of whom have been sanctioned.[12][13] Government officials including Cyprus president Nikos Christodoulides[14] and European lawmakers[15] began responding to the investigation's findings in less than 24 hours,[14] calling for reforms and launching probes.[16][17]

Overall, the BIC has produced investigations about Belarusian companies and VIPs such as BelAZ,[18] Dana Holdings [ru],[19] Grodno Azot,[20] Irina Abelskaya [ru],[3] Aliaksei Aleksin,[21] Yury Chyzh,[3] Mikhail Gutseriev,[22] Aliaksandr Shakutsin,[23] Viktor Sheiman,[3] Pavel Topuzidis [ru],[24] Siarhei Tsiatsieryn [ru],[25] Mikalai Varabei[26] and Aleksandr Zaitsev [ru],[27] as well as about the Belarus–EU migration crisis[28] and the abductions of the Ukrainian children.[29] Some of the BIC investigations were made together with OCCRP, Cyber Partisans and local investigative media such as Armando.Info, iStories or Re:Baltica.

Programs

  • News with Chaly
  • Chaly: Economics
  • Weekly Top Fake — a weekly show that exposes fake news in the Belarusian and Russian media. The program is a signatory to the Poynter Institute's International Fact-Checking Network Code of Principles.[30]

Awards

Journalists of the BIC are the recipients of the national award "Free Word" from the Belarusian Association of Journalists in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. At "Free Word" 2021 BIC's team also received first place for Analytics.[31]

References

  1. [1]
    "Белорусские журналисты-расследователи продолжают работу из-за рубежа". golosameriki.com (in Russian). 20 July 2022. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  2. [2]
    "Belarusian Investigative Center". Archived from the original on 2023-07-11. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  3. [3]
    "Exiled Belarusian investigative website deemed 'extremist' by Minsk". Euractiv. 2022-11-02.
  4. [4]
    Беларускі расследавальніцкі цэнтр уступіў у GIJN
  5. [5]
    Belarusian Supreme Court Labels Respected Investigative Center As 'Extremist'
  6. [6]
    The Belarus-Baltics trade war
  7. [7]
    The sanctioned oligarch’s son and a £160m London property empire
  8. [8]
    Lithuanian Politician gets Expelled from the Party after OCCRP Investigation
  9. [9]
    Lithuania Cracks Down on Sanction Evasion Schemes after OCCRP Investigation
  10. [10]
    "Inside Cyprus Confidential: The data-driven journalism that helped expose an island under Russian influence - ICIJ". 2023-11-14. Archived from the original on 2023-11-30. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  11. [11]
    "About the Cyprus Confidential investigation - ICIJ". 2023-11-14. Archived from the original on 2023-11-21. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  12. [12]
    "Cyprus Confidential: Leaked Roman Abramovich documents raise fresh questions for Chelsea FC: ICIJ-led investigation reveals how Mediterranean island ignores Russian atrocities and western sanctions to cash in on Putin's oligarchs". The Irish Times. 15 November 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  13. [13]
    "Cyprus Confidential - ICIJ". www.icij.org. 14 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  14. [14]
    "Cypriot president pledges government probe into Cyprus Confidential revelations - ICIJ". 2023-11-15. Archived from the original on 2023-12-14. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  15. [15]
    "Lawmakers call for EU crackdown after ICIJ's Cyprus Confidential revelations - ICIJ". 2023-11-23. Archived from the original on 2023-12-24. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  16. [16]
    "Cyprus ignores Russian atrocities, Western sanctions to shield vast wealth of Putin allies - ICIJ". 2023-11-14. Archived from the original on 2023-12-14. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  17. [17]
    Solutions, BDigital Web. "Finance Minister perturbed over 'Cyprus Confidential'". knews.com.cy. Archived from the original on 2023-12-24. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  18. [18]
    Cerniauskas, Sarunas; Yarashevich, Ales; Kranceviciute, Migle (2021-11-25). "Ex-Prison Warden in Lithuania Struck $1M Deal with Sanctioned Belarusian State Truckmaker". Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
  19. [19]
    Cerniauskas, Sarunas; Yarashevich, Ales; Kranceviciute, Migle (2021-11-25). "Lukashenko Doles Out Prime Belarus Real Estate to Serbian Cronies". Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
  20. [20]
    Gotev, Georgi (2023-02-21). "Belarus fertilisers sanction-busting schemes revealed". Euractiv.
  21. [21]
    Yarashevich, Ales; Karpeka, Aliaksei; Ratmirova, Olga; Cerniauskas, Sarunas (2021-11-29). "Soon After Taking Over Belarus' Tobacco Industry, Oligarch Donated Luxury Cars to Lukashenko Regime". Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
  22. [22]
    Jolly, Jasper (2022-05-24). "The sanctioned oligarch's son and a £160m London property empire". The Guardian.
  23. [23]
    "Belarusian oligarch uses Lithuanian firm to dodge sanctions in Germany – media". Lithuanian National Radio and Television. 2023-02-13. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
  24. [24]
    "COMMENT: EU's sanctions need to cover Belarus' 'mini oligarchy'". Bne IntelliNews. 2022-03-25.
  25. [25]
    "Расследование: друг Лукашенко поставляет в Беларусь шоколад из Европы в обход санкций". Current Time TV (in Russian). 2023-03-06. Archived from the original on 2023-04-24. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  26. [26]
    Gotev, Georgi (2022-09-27). "Lavish Austrian property of EU-sanctioned Belarusian oligarch revealed". Euractiv. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
  27. [27]
    Gotev, Georgi (2023-04-25). "'Lukashenko wallet' used Catholic Church to evade EU sanctions". Euractiv.
  28. [28]
    Ivashkevich, Stanislau (2023-08-06). "A new migration crisis is brewing on border with Belarus. This time, the trail starts in Russia". Lithuanian National Radio and Television.
  29. [29]
    Gotev, Georgi (2023-08-01). "Belarusian connection revealed in children's abductions from Ukraine". Euractiv.
  30. [30]
    About us
  31. [31]
    Awards
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