The book On the Way to Magadan, written behind bars, was published in 2013, when Ihar Alinievič was serving a sentence for political reasons. He was recognized as a political prisoner during serving his time (2010-2015).
During his stay in the KGB pre-trial detention center, Ihar Alinievič was tortured as he categorically refused to work for the authorities. Ihar Alinievič wrote about everything that had happened to him in a diary book he released.
The diary reflects the reality each Belarusian prisoner has to face.
The first version of the book was published in the Russian language in Russia (Radical Theory and Practice publishing house). The book was presented in Minsk on April 19, 2013, when Ihar was serving his sentence in a penal colony in Navapolack. After the publication, Ihar Alinievič started receiving worse treatment from the colony administration.
Ihar Alinievič’s diary was also included in the collection Voice of Freedom from behind Bars. Anthology of works of Belarusian political prisoners (compiler, editor A. I. Fiaduta, Vilnius, 2013).
The Belarusian translation of the book Going to Magadan appeared in 2017 in the Belarusian Prison Literature series, founded by the Viasna Human Rights Center. On October 21, 2017, the presentation of the Belarusian translation of the book took place within the framework of the 4th Belarusian Human Rights Forum, which took place in Vilnius.
The book has also been translated into Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian, English, German, Spanish, Czech, French, Polish, and Greek.
In 2013, Ihar Alinievič received the grand award for the best work written in prison, making him the first laureate of the Francišak Alachnovič Award, founded jointly by PEN Belarus and Radio Svaboda, given for the best work written in prison.
In 2016, Ihar Alinievič he was rewarded with the Viktar Ivaškievič Award in “For Personal Courage” in 2015, which is given for Defending Human Rights.
In 2017, he published an article on the subject of the penitentiary system On the other side of the fence, as well as a text At the turning point of civilization devoted to modern civilizational processes.
In the fall of 2020, he recorded three video messages (also available in text format), in which he analyzed the Belarusian revolution, the psychology of security forces, and proposed a political program of anarchism for Belarus.
On the night of October 28-29, 2020, Ihar Alinievič and three other anarchists (Dźmitryj Duboŭski, Dźmitrj Rezanovič, and Siarhiej Ramanaŭ) were detained in Homel region near the Belarusian-Ukrainian border.
He is charged under Article 289 (an act of terrorism committed by an organized group).
On December 22, 2021, Ihar Alinievič was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment.
In mid-February 2022, it became known that Ihar was transferred from Pre-trial Detention Center No. 1 1 to Homel a detention center in Homel. In the middle of May, he was transferred to PC No. 20. Immediately after quarantine, Ihar was placed in a penal institution for 30 days, and then in a cell-type room.
On June 10, the political prisoner was added to the “List of persons involved in extremist activities.”
On August 8, 2022, a trial was held to transfer Ihar to prison. The decision was made by Judge Valancina Novikava. It is unclear how long Ihar will remain there.
On August 11, 2022, Ihar was transferred from PC No. 20 to the Žodzina Prison No. 8.
Ihar’s mother reported on Facebook that at the end of September, the political prisoner went on hunger strike in protest against the actions of the Žodzina prison administration: “His demands are quite specific, guaranteed by law, including the fact that his complaints are not sent to the destination. Both he and all of us understand that there is no law in our country.” Ihar spent three weeks in a pre-trial detention center.
In 2021, the KGB added Ihar Alinievič to the “terrorist” list.
Mail address: Ihar Alinievič, Prison No. 8, 222163, Žodzina, vulica Savieckaja 22A.