Belsat TV

Belsat broadcasts from the Astra 4A satellite,[1] which covers the European region of the former USSR. In Ukraine, it is available on most cable networks.[2] In Poland, it is carried by approximately 20% of cable networks. In Belarus, however, it is unavailable on cable or digital networks due to a ban by the authorities.

The channel's programming is broadcast live via the belsat.eu website, YouTube, and the BelsatSmart app for Smart TVs. Meanwhile, the БелсатТВ app for Android and iOS tablets and smartphones allows viewers to watch live, and read the latest news with embedded videos. Belsat also operates ten thematic YouTube channels: Belsat News, Belsat Life, Belsat Now, Belsat History, Belsat Music, Belsat Doc, The Way It Is, Hardcore Cartoons, Belsat in Polish and Belsat in English. It also hosts the Belsat Music channel on Soundcloud, featuring tracks from Belsat's music programmes.[3]

According to sociological polls conducted for Belsat by Mia Research from April to May 2019 (with a sample of 1,515 people aged 18 to 64), Belsat is watched by 13% of adult Belarusians. The brand's recognisability rose from 27% to 40% between 2015 and 2019.

There have also been major changes in how the channel's output is watched. The traditional method, via satellite receivers, has been replaced by new technology. In May 2019, 85% of the Mia Research poll respondents declared that they watch the channel's programmes online, compared to only 18% via satellite dishes, 55% on computers and laptops, and 40% on smartphones. 8% of viewers were using Smart TV technology, even though the channel's app had only just been launched at time of polling.

Compared to former years, there was a steep rise in the activity of Internet users on the channel's website, which has five language versions: Belarusian, Russian, Ukrainian, English and Polish. According to Google Analytics, the site garnered 1,290,042 unique visitors and 12,083,368 views in May 2019, putting it on a par with Western government-funded media in Belarus, such as Radio Svaboda,[4] or independent media such as the Belarusian-language online newspaper Nasha Niva. The average number of daily users on the site was 68,153 during that period.

Like the website, there are five language versions of all the channel's social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Telegram, Odnoklassniki, VKontakte and Linkedin. In April 2021, they had 775,000 subscribers in total. Belsat's ten thematic YouTube channels had a total of one million subscribers. Belsat News is the only Belarusian-language news channel on YouTube with more than 100,000 subscribers (in April 2019). The Russian-language The Way It Is, which targets viewers from the former USSR, passed the 100,000-subscriber mark in June 2019. Both channels won a Silver Button award from YouTube.

25% of Belsat's viewers were in favour of European integration in May 2019. The minority – 17% – opted for further integration with Russia. Over half named Belarusian citizenship as the most important factor for determining identity, and 20% – local patriotism. 85% of Belsat's audience had a positive attitude towards Poland, while 50% associated Poland with Europe, 25% with prosperity, 22% with democracy, and 55% with shopping.

The creation of a satellite channel as part of Telewizja Polska, aimed at viewers in Belarus, was the initiative of journalist Agnieszka Romaszewska-Guzy. It was designed in response to demand expressed in Belarusian democratic circles for a television channel independent of the Minsk authorities. The idea found support from the Polish government and a wide spectrum of political forces in parliament. As a result, the project became a priority area for Polish policy governing international cooperation to develop democracy and civil society. On June 20, 2006, Telewizja Polska's board formed a commission of media professionals from Poland and Belarus to draft plans for a Belarusian-language channel. Initially, the channel was due to be launched in January 2007. On April 23, 2007, Telewizja Polska and the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs signed an agreement to create a channel named TV Bialorus. Telewizja Polska's board formally approved the new channel as a subsidiary on July 17, 2007. TVP S.A. was allocated 16 million zlotys from public funds to set up the new channel, finally christened “Belsat”. Belsat began broadcasting on December 10, 2007 (International Human Rights Day) and since then its director has been Agnieszka Romaszewska-Guzy.

In 2008 Belsat received 20.9 million zloty ($8.5 million) of financial support from the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with reducing support in subsequent years. In 2012 the support level was 17.6 million zloty ($5.1 million). Additional support came from the governments of Sweden, Netherlands, Norway, and other countries.[5]

In August 2017, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its then-head Witold Waszczykowski reduced Belsat's subsidy and terminated the agreement to fund the channel.[6] As a result, Jacek Kurski, the head of TVP, addressed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, requesting confirmation of whether the government intended to continue funding the channel. Receiving no answer, he addressed the same question to premier Beata Szydlo. Members of the governmental coalition declared support for the channel, and the Ministry of Development became involved. In February 2018, the government pledged to finance the channel's activity from the ministry's reserve fund until the end of the year. It was also declared that, starting in 2019, the channel would be eligible for regular funding from the ministerial budget.

In February 2021, two Belsat journalists, Katsyaryna Andreeva and Darya Chultsova, were sentenced to two years in prison by a court in Minsk after reporting from an anti-government rally held in November 2020. The arrest and subsequent sentencing was criticised by the European and International Federations of Journalists, as well as their Belarusian affiliate, the Belarusian Association of Journalists.[7]

Belsat TV alternative logo used in the territory of Belarus

On April 26, 2007, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko dubbed the project “stupid and uncongenial”.[9] The Belarusian authorities’ subsequent actions confirmed the political trend set by Lukashenko, resulting in four official refusals to register Belsat in Belarus. Since the channel has no accreditation, its journalists face constant persecution while working in the country. To date, they have spent a total of 125 days in detention and been fined $94,296 US, simply for doing their jobs.

In 2017, the channel's Minsk office was searched and computer equipment was confiscated.[10] The same year, Belsat TV was prohibited from using its trademark, following a Minsk court ruling that it infringed the rights of entrepreneur Andrey Belyakov, who had registered a firm named Belsat Plus.[11] Since then, Belsat's reporters have used equipment bearing an alternative logo that contains consonants from the channel's name – the Cyrillic “BLS” (БЛС) and “tv”.

The most recent search of Belsat's Minsk offices was carried out in 2019, in connection with a case in which the channel's journalists had allegedly slandered Andrey Shved, chairman of the State Forensic Examination Committee.

In 2020 Belsat journalists were 162 times detained; detentions regularly involve the confiscation of all equipment. 26 journalists arrested, out of which 6 journalists were convicted to arrests twice and 1 journalist – thrice, giving 34 cases of administrative arrests. They had been sentenced to a total of 392 days behind bars. 7 of arrested journalists were treated brutally and beaten by law enforcers. 7 journalist following detention were hospitalised. During the crackdown on the protests of August 9–12, Belsat journalists were putting their lives on the line, and 2 of them were injured. Belsat journalists paid fines amounting to 26 353,44 USD.

On February 18, 2021, Belsat TV journalist Katsyaryna Andreeva and camerawoman Darya Chultsova were sentenced to two years of imprisonment in a minimum-security penal colony. They were accused of ‘organisation and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order’ (Art. 342 of the Criminal Code) on the back of their livestreaming a rally in Minsk. The investigators claim the Belsat crew ‘coordinated protesters and called for further actions’, but the two media workers were just performing their professional duties by reporting from the scene.

In July 2021, Belsat's content was declared extremist, meaning disseminating it can be punished by a 30-day detention. On November 3, 2021, the Ministry of Internal Affairs declared the channel an extremist group.[12] Creation of an extremist group or participation in it is a criminal offence in Belarus.[13]

In the fall of 2022, a criminal case for an interview with the channel was opened against Natalya Suslova, the mother of Belarusian volunteer Pavel “Volat” Suslov, who was killed in action in Ukraine.[14] In January 2023, Daria Losik, the wife of Ihar Losik, was sentenced to two years in prison for an interview with the channel under a criminal article on promoting extremist activity.[15]

The European Parliament has urged the European Union to support Belsat in several resolutions. On January 20, 2011, the Parliament stressed the need to support Belarusian independent media, including Belsat TV. MEPs called on the European Commission “to support, with all financial and political means, the efforts of Belarusian civil society […] and non-governmental organisations in Belarus to promote democracy and oppose the regime”. The resolution also called on the commission to halt ongoing cooperation and to withdraw its assistance provided to Belarusian state-owned media.[16] On July 31, 2023, the European Parliament passed a resolution in which it asks the European Commission and the Member States, to strengthen Belarusian media outlets, including Belsat TV.[17]

On October 20, 2004 US president George W. Bush signed into law the Belarus Democracy Act, which authorized sanctions against the Belarusian government and its leaders, while allowing for support of and financing to groups, NGOs, and individuals who supported and worked towards democratic and free press goals.[18]

In January 2012, US president Barack Obama signed the Belarus Human Rights and Democracy Act, which amended the 2004 Act and outlined the main priorities for American foreign policy on Belarus, as well as support for independent media, including Belsat TV.[19][20][21]

In April 2019, the OSCE condemned the search of Belsat's Minsk offices. In May 2019, Harlem Désir, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, expressed his disappointment and concern regarding the ongoing practice of imposing penalties on journalists working without accreditation in Belarus. This came in reaction to six Belsat journalists who had been sentenced to hefty fines.[22]