Journalists from the state press in Belarus infiltrated Current Time, to demonstrate that it is extremist press and slanders Putin with Lukashenko. In a 22-minute investigation, published by the main state channels, controlled by the power in Minsk, it was shown how the editorial office operated.
The reporters claim that they have installed surveillance cameras in the editorial office, identified 75 employees, mostly Russians, and assert that they collaborated with the publication controlled by Current Time, to produce the material. According to them, the material would have been documented over a period of five years.
Belarusian propagandists also claim to have gained access to the working chats of the Russian language project of Radio Free Europe. According to them, the employees would receive money from the US Congress.
The report included excerpts from text messages and audio recordings of conversations between presenter Ekaterina Tihomirova and Alina Rudnitskaya, the coordinator of Current Time.
The freelance contenders from Belarus proposed to the Current Time editorial office two projects – one about the Chernobyl tragedy, and the other – about a Soviet coach. Both initiatives did not pass, either because the topics are not current or because there was no budget.
Although they claim to have made hidden camera recordings and drone footage, the material published by the Minsk press only includes some phone conversations, the names of journalists, who were already known to collaborate with the publication, as well as a few images of the Current Time headquarters in the Czech Republic.
Also, there were shown some screenshots from the messages with Alina Rudnitskaya discussing the application for grants, as well as some blurred receipts from pharmacies, with her purchases. Although they report that they know about dozens of journalists’ trips, the reporters do not present the evidence they hold about them.
Their argument is that evidence of journalists’ collaborations with the publication Current Time, considered extremist, was forwarded to the authorities of their home countries, most of them being Russians.
Current Time has not yet commented on the alleged investigation by the state press in Belarus. Concurrently, Dojdi wrote that at least one person implicated claimed to have no connection with the media institution.
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