Yuliya Slutskaya

Yuliya Vitalyeuna Slutskaya (; born 15 September 1964) is a Belarusian journalist and former political prisoner. She is the founder of Press Club Belarus and the Information Bureau of Solidarity with Belarus.

Early life and education Slutskaya studied sociology from the Belarusian State University. She spent several years after her graduation working for the university's sociology department.

Journalism career Slutskaya began working as a journalist in 1994, initially working for BelKP-Pres as a sociologist. By 1997, she had become the editor of Komsomolskaya Pravda v Belorussii, a Belarusian Russian-language newspaper which she was among the founding members.

Activism In February 2010, the pro-democracy and anti-corruption Tell the Truth campaign was established, which nominated Uladzimir Nyaklyayew as its candidate in the 2010 Belarusian presidential election. Slutskaya conceived and implement Tell the Truth's media campaign, and also served a media consultant for Nyaklyayew.

On 31 December, Slutskaya was charged with large-scale fraud under article 243 of the Criminal Code of Belarus. Other members of Press Club Belarus, including Piotr Slutsky, Alla Sharko and Sergei Alsheuski, as well as former Belteleradio journalist Ksenia Lutskina, were also arrested on charges of being complicit. Investigators claimed that the fraud stemmed from tax evasion linked to a public television project, while Slutskaya stated the charges against her stemmed from her journalistic activities.

On 6 January 2021, family members of the detained employees paid 109, 769 BYN to the Investigative Committee of Belarus, the amount of the alleged unpaid tax. On 4 February 2021, Swiss politician Martina Munz of the Federal Assembly symbolically became Slutskaya's godparent.

On 19 August 2021, Slutskaya and her co-defendants were released from pre-trial detention after agreeing to plead guilty, pay a fine of 200, 000 BYN and sign a petition of support for Alexander Lukashenko.

Recognition In 2021, Slutskaya won the International Association of Press Clubs' Freedom of Speech Award, as well as being named as one of the International Press Institute's World Press Freedom Heroes.