Chronicle of human rights violations in the sphere of culture (1-15 May 2023)

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Alieś Bialiacki (Aleś Bialiatski) transferred from the pre-trial detention prison (SIZA) No 1 in Minsk to the penal colony No 9 in Horki.

The administrator of the Pa Bielarusku (In Belarusian) telegram channel Andrej Filipčyk on trial in Minsk

Artist Hienadź Drazdoū sentenced to 3 years in a minimum-security prison.

Verdict handed down to the founder of Symbal.bу online store and cultural manager Paval Bielavus – 13 years in a medium-security prison.

Journalist, historian, local history expert, and populariser of Belarusian history Jaūhien Merkis on trial in Homiel.

The hearing of a criminal case against art manager and musician Uladzimir Bulaūski.

Poet Siarhiej Krasnabrod arrested for 15 days.

Cultural and educational event organiser Valiancina Bolbat arrested, and admitted to a hospital after the court hearing.

Blogger Mikalaj Klimovič (Mikalaj Vierasień) from Pinsk dies in the penal colony No 3 in Viciebsk.

An economic court liquidates one of the oldest private publishing houses, Zmicier Kolas.

People’s memorial on the site of executions by Stalin’s security forces near the village of Chajsy, Viciebsk district, vandalised.

 I. Politically motivated criminal cases against cultural workers, authors and performers

1. On 2 May, it became known that Nobel Peace Prize laureate, human rights defender and writer Alieś Bialiacki was transferred from detention centre No 1 in Minsk to penal colony No 9 in Horki. On 3 March 2023, Minsk’s Leninski District Court sentenced him to 10 years in prison for human rights work, including helping the victims of repression.
2. On 3 May, the trial of Andrej Filipčyk, the administrator of the Pa-Belarusku (In Belarusian) Telegram channel, began in Minsk’s Maskoūski District Court. Andrej is accused of actively participating in group actions that grossly violate public order, under Article 342 (1) of the Criminal Code. Pa-Belarusku publishes jokes and memes in the Belarusian language. Pro-government sources report that the channel promoted “the Latin language and hatred of the Russian-speaking socio-cultural space.” Andrej Filipčyk was detained on 31 January 31 and held in detention centre No. 1 in Minsk until the trial.
3. On 4 May, the Minsk City Court sentenced the ex-head of the creative association “Pahonia”, artist Hienadź Drazdoū, to three years in a minimum-security prison. Under Article 342(1) in the Criminal Code, he was charged with organising and preparing actions that grossly violated public order or actively participated in them. Under Article 361.4 (1) of the Criminal Code, he was charged with facilitating extremist activity. Hienadź Drazdoū was detained on 10 August 2022 and held in detention centre No. 1 on Valadarski Street in Minsk until the trial.
4. On 6 May, it became known about the arrest of Natallia Žloba, a lecturer at the Minsk State Linguistic University. Since the arrest at the end of March, Natallia Žloba has remained in the pre-trial detention centre No. 1 in Minsk.
5. On 11 May, the Minsk City Court sentenced the founder of the Symbal.by store, cultural manager Paval Bielavus, to 13 years in a medium-security prison. The trial began on 20 February and was held behind closed doors. Paval Bielavus was found guilty of violating four articles of the Criminal Code: Article 342 (organisation and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order or active participation in them), Article 356 (state treason), Article 361 (calls for actions aimed at harming the national security of the Republic of Belarus), Article 361.1 (creating an extremist formation or participating in it). For more than 10 years, Paval was involved in projects promoting Belarusian culture and the ethnic and cultural identity of Belarusians.
6. On 11 May, the trial of journalist, local history expert, and populariser of Belarusian history Jaūhien Merkis began at Homiel Regional Court. Jaūhien is charged under Article 361.4 (1) (2) of the Criminal Code with facilitating extremist activities and under Article 361.1(3) with participating in an extremist formation. The trial is held behind closed doors.
7. On 15 May, the politically motivated criminal trial of art manager and musician Uladzimir Bulaūski began at Viciebsk’s Pieršamajski District Court. Uladzimir is charged under Article 342.2 of the Criminal Code with repeatedly violating the order of organising or holding mass events.

II. Politically motivated administrative detentions and arrests of cultural workers, authors and performers

1. On 3 May, it became known that the vocalist of Fair Play cover band, Aliaksandr Hajvaronski, was detained in Hrodna. He wore white and red clothes with the Pahonia national coat of arms during a gig. According to the police, the musician subscribed to “extremist” channels. The police used force to detain him at a workplace. Aliaksandr Hajvaronski is also known as Sasha Lennon.
2. On 5 May, police in Homiel detained the editor of the local state-run radio station, poet and novelist Siarhiej Krasnabarod, at his workplace. Homiel’s Centralny District Court sentenced Siarhiej to 15 days of administrative arrest for “dissemination of extremist materials”.
3. On 10 May, a theatre and cinema actor, and organiser of cultural events, Aliaksandr Jendżeūski, was detained in Hrodna for “dissemination and preservation of extremist materials on Instagram”.
4. On 10 May, Vierchniadzvinsk District Court ruled to sentence Valiancina Bolbat, an organiser of cultural and educational events, to 30 days in jail. She was hospitalised immediately after hearing the verdict – a fifth trial for her. The first trial took place on 25 November 2022 following two administrative offence reports and ended in the court ruling ten days of arrest. The second trial was on 30 November, with another ten days of arrest. Valiancina Bolbat’s health seriously deteriorated in the detention centre in Navapolack, so in mid-December 2022, she was released early. But on 11 January 2023, she was detained again and placed in remand prison to complete the three days of her unfinished previous arrest term. On 13 January, while behind bars, Valiancina stood another trial, was found guilty and received a fine of 3,700 BYN ($1,500). The penalties and fines associated with detentions are more than 4,000 BYN (over $1,600).

III. Trials and arrests for using Belarusian and Ukrainian national symbols

On 8 May, police officers detained a young man with Pahonia and Ukraine’s coat of arms tatted on him. A pro-government Telegram channel published a “repenting video” with the detainee saying he tatted Pahonia in 2021 “as a sign of protest activity” and Trident in 2022 to support Ukraine.

IV. Conditions in places of detention

1. On 5 May, a blogger from Pinsk, Mikalaj Klimovič (aka Mikalaj Vieraseń), died in penal colony No. 3 in Viciebsk. On 28 February 2023, he was sentenced to one year in prison under Article 368 of the Criminal Code (insulting the president) for putting a like under a political caricature of Lukashenka on social media. Mikalaj was imprisoned despite having a Type II disability. In 2022, he suffered a stroke and survived heart surgery. Before the sentence was pronounced, he said: “Any prison sentence for me means death because I have to be under the constant supervision of a doctor and take a lot of strong medicines. I may not last even a month.” Mikalaj Klimovič was born on 27 September 1961. He graduated from the Minsk State College of Arts. In the 1980s, Mikalaj worked as the artistic director of the Liemiaševičy House of Culture and headed the Dialogue cafe. In 1991, he graduated from the Institute of Culture in Moscow. He ran a blog under the pseudonym Mikalaj Vieraseń. The last publication in the blog appeared a day before the trial – 27 February 2023. In the Odnoklassniki social network, he had the status “Ukraine, hold on, Belarus is with you! Glory to Ukraine, long live Belarus!” On 12 May, Mikalaj Klimovič was buried in Pinsk. 
2. Despite his health condition, writer and political scientist Aliaksandr Fiaduta was not relieved from camp labour. Fiaduta is serving a ten-year term in prison No. 15 in Mahilioū.
3.  Writer Aliaksandr Franckievič was held for one month in punitive confinement in the penal colony No 5 in Ivacevičy.
4. The administration of prison No. 1 in Hrodna put the journalist, author of the prison prose book “Paints of a Parallel World” Mikalaj Dziadok, in punitive confinement for ten days because he went to bed a few minutes earlier than it was allowed.
5. The writer and public figure Paval Sieviaryniec’s relatives have not received letters from him for one month.

V. Repressions in the book and publishing sector

On 10 May, the Economic Court ruled to liquidate one of the oldest private publishing houses – Zmicier Kolas. The court reviewed the lawsuit the Ministry of Information filed against one of the most experienced Belarusian publishers, Zmicier Kolas, who had started his book-publishing activity as far back as in the Soviet times. The ministry sought to invalidate the previously issued registration certificate for the publisher.

The ministry filed the lawsuit in connection with a collection of historical documents titled “Liberated” and Enslaved. The Polish-Belarusian border 1939–1941 in the papers of Belarusian archives”. On 6 January, Minsk’s Central District Court designated the book as “extremist materials” and banned its distribution.

VI. State vandalism of memorial sites that are significant for Belarusian culture

On 15 May, it became known about an act of vandalism against the people’s memorial at the site of mass executions by Stalin’s security forces near the village of Chajsy, Viciebsk district. Wooden crosses with the names of the executed were broken, and signposts were destroyed on the graves of the victims of executions. The metal sign with the inscription “Memorial “Chajsy” was removed from the bolts, and the frame was bent. According to Jan Dziaržaūcaū, the founder of the “Chajsy – Viciebsk Kurapaty” initiative, the authorities deliberately targeted the site to destroy the memory of the mass executions in Chajsy.