As of 15 July 2023, at least 133 cultural figures, including not less than 31 People of the Word, were behind bars.
Political prisoner artist Aleś Puškin [Ales Pushkin] died in a hospital’s intensive care unit in Hrodna after peritonitis developed due to untimely medical care. The prison officials had brought the artist to the hospital in an unconscious state with stomach ulcer perforation. His heart stopped during the surgery.
Cultural manager, head of Ulej and MolaMola crowdfunding platforms Eduard Babaryka was sentenced to eight years in a medium-security correctional colony.
The prosecution requested six years in prison for Paval Mažejka, the head of Hrodna’s cultural space Urban Life Centre, journalist and coordinator of the Hrodna Library publishing initiative, and defence lawyer Julija Jurhilevič.
An activist and prison literature author, Zmicier Daškievič, was scheduled to walk out free after serving his prison term. Still, a new criminal case was opened against him under Article 411 of the Criminal Code (malicious disobedience to the requirements of the correctional institution’s administration).
The writer, human rights defender, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Aleś Bialiacki [Ales Bialiatski], works at a wood-processing shop in the maximum-security colony No 9 in Horki – one of the strictest and “ill-fed” prisons in Belarus, according to former prisoners.
I. Politically motivated criminal cases against cultural workers, authors and performers
1. On 5 July, the Minsk Regional Court sentenced Eduard Babaryka, a cultural manager and the head of the Ulej and MolaMola crowdfunding platforms, to eight years in a maximum-security penal colony. The public prosecutor dropped the charges against Eduard Babaryka under Article 235 (2) of the Criminal Code (legalisation of proceeds from crime). He also reduced the charges under Article 293 (1) (organisation of mass riots) to a lesser charge under Article 342 (1) of the Criminal Code (organisation of actions that grossly violate public order).
2. It became known on 6 July that bard Aliaksiej Iljinčyk was moved to a penal colony in Navasady. Aliaksiej Iljinčyk is the author of the books “From Leshki to Leshiy” (2000), “FAS” (2000), “A Happy Man” (2002), “Leshki Forever! Part 1” (2002), “You Know…” (2004). On 28 March 2023, the Homiel Regional Court sentenced him to two and a half years in a low-security penal colony under Article 367 (2) of the Criminal Code (defamation of the President), Article 368 (1) of the Criminal Code (insulting the President) and Article 130 (1) of the Criminal Code (inciting enmity and discord).
3. On 10 July, the Hrodna Regional Court began hearing the case of Paval Mažejka, the head of the cultural space Urban Life Centre in Hrodna, journalist, coordinator of the Hrodna Library publishing initiative, and Julija Jurhilevič, artist Aleś Puškin’s defence attorney. The two are charged under Article 361.4 (2) of the Criminal Code, which deals with the “facilitation of extremist activity, committed repeatedly by a group of persons as part of a premeditated conspiracy.” The trial is taking place behind closed doors. According to the case file, Julija Jurhilevič revealed information to Paval Mažejka about the revocation of her lawyer’s license, her exclusion from the Hrodna Regional Bar Association, the criminal case against artist Aleś Puškin at the Minsk City Court and the verdict. Paval Mažejka is accused of passing this information on to unidentified persons for publication on the Belsat TV channel in February-March 2022. The prosecution treats his actions “as committed by a group of people in a premeditated conspiracy with Julija Jurhilevič.” On 14 July, the prosecutor demanded six years of imprisonment for Paval Mažejka and Julija Jurhilevič.
4. On 10 July, Hrodna’s Leninski District Court sentenced the founder of the Cudoŭnia ethnic store Andrej Niesciarovič to one year of suspended home confinement. Cudoŭnia has operated in Hrodna since 2015. In 2020, the employees of the ethnic store supported peaceful protests against the falsified election results. On 26 October 2020, Cudoŭnia remained closed in solidarity with the declared all-Belarusian strike. Eventually, it faced repression and fines before losing its premises on 3 December 2020.
5. On 11 July 2023, civil activist and prison literature writer Zmicier Daškievič was scheduled to walk out free after fully serving his term. However, a new criminal case was opened against him under Article 411 of the Criminal Code (malicious disobedience to the requirements of the correctional institution’s administration). He was sent to a prison in Žodzina. Zmicier Daškievič and his wife, Nasta Daškievič, were tried for participating in a street protest on 23 August 2020. They were charged under Article 342 (1) of the Criminal Code (group actions that grossly violate public order). During the investigation, while Zmicier Daškievič was behind bars, Nasta Daškievič gave birth to her fourth child. On 14 July 2022, Minsk’s Maskoŭski District Court sentenced Zmicier Daškievič to one and a half years in a penal colony and Nasta Daškievič – to three years of home confinement. During his last word at court, Zmicier Daškievič stated that the police officers tortured his Belarusian language: “…During the arrest, they beat me in front of my pregnant wife and said: ‘What is this person saying? Let him speak normally. Let him speak normally.” Zmicier Daškievič is the author of the prison literature book Čarviak (Worm), for which in 2014 he became the laureate of the Francišak Aliachnovič Award, founded by the Belarusian PEN Centre jointly with Radio Liberty for the best work written in prison. In 2016, he organised a collection of signatures under an appeal to the Ministry of Culture to give the white-red-white flag the status of intangible historical and cultural heritage.
II. Politically motivated administrative detentions and arrests of cultural workers, authors and performers
At Belarusian border posts, cultural workers are interrogated, have their belongings searched, and their phones checked. During interrogations, KGB officers demand them to tell about the cultural events they visited and their contacts abroad. Some are punished with administrative arrests and fines.
III. Trials and arrests for using Belarusian and Ukrainian national symbols
1. On 5 July, a kebab shop chef with Ukraine’s coat of arms on his arm was detained in Minsk.
2. On 13 July, an entrepreneur was detained in Minsk for having a license plate frame with the “Pahonia” (Pursuit) emblem on his car. He was accused of “displaying prohibited symbols on a private car.”
3. An employee of the Nova System company was detained in Minsk for a tattoo with the “Pursuit” emblem, reported by someone in the subway.
IV. Conditions in places of detention, tortures of prisoners
1. Political prisoner artist Aleś Puškin [Ales Pushkin] died in a hospital’s intensive care unit in Hrodna after peritonitis developed due to untimely medical care. The prison officials had brought the artist to the hospital in an unconscious state with stomach ulcer perforation. His heart stopped during the surgery. Aleś Puškin began experiencing severe pain in mid-June 2023, but prison doctors did not pay due attention to it and accused the artist of faking the disease. Convicted under Article 370 of the Criminal Code (desecration of state symbols) and Article 130 of the Criminal Code (incitement to hatred or discord), Puškin was sentenced to five years in a maximum-security penal colony. The criminal case against him was based on the portrait of the anti-Soviet resistance figure Jaŭhien Žychar exhibited at the independent cultural space Urban Life Centre on 19 March 2021. According to the prosecutor’s office, at the exhibition, Aleś Puškin “described Žychar as a member of the Belarusian resistance and a fighter against the Bolsheviks, thus glorifying and approving his actions.” In November – December 2021, Aleś Puškin was sent for a psychiatric examination. In August 2022, the correctional facility’s administration placed the artist in a ward-type room for five months. On 11 November 2022, Ivacevičy District Court ruled to change the imprisonment routine for Aleś Puškin from the correctional colony regime to the prison regime for one and a half years. Shortly after, he was moved to prison No. 1 in Hrodna. Aleš Puškin is a famous Belarusian artist, laureate of the 2019 Francišak Alachnovič Award for “Prison Album”. For more than 30 years, he advocated for protecting the Belarusian language and held performances for freedom of expression in Belarus.
Aleš Puškin served numerous administrative arrest terms for artistic actions. Several times, police officers beat him during detention.
Aleś Puškin was detained for the first time in 1988 for participating in a rally on Dziady. Since then, the artist was repeatedly jailed for his actions and performances, including a performance act supporting the Belarusian language.
On 25 March 1989, Aleś Puškin organised the first performance in defence of the Belarusian language together with fellow students of the Theatre and Art Institute. Back then, he received two years of suspended sentence.
In 1999, Aleś Puškin again received two years of suspended sentence for his performance action “Thanks to the President”. On 21 July 1999, when the term of Aliaksandr Lukašenka’s presidency ended, the artist rolled a red wheelbarrow of manure containing Belarusian rouble banknotes, a portrait of Lukashenka, handcuffs and a copy of the 1996 amended Constitution of Belarus to the building of the presidential administration.
On 10 December 2000, on International Human Rights Day, Aleś Puškin and the human rights centre “Viasna” organised an exhibition of uncensored art titled “Not Allowed by Censorship”. He also participated in the activities of the campaign “Human rights defenders against the death penalty.” Aleś Puškin was buried on 13 July in his homeland, in the village of Bobr. Police officers were present at the funeral, filming attendees from the car. Aleś Puškin was expelled from the Union of Artists a few weeks before his death.
2. On 14 July, it became known that the writer, human rights defender, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aleś Bialiacki [Ales Bialiatski] works in a wood-cutting shop in the maximum-security penal colony No. 9 in Horki. According to the testimonies of former prisoners, this is one of the most cruel colonies in Belarus. It is also known as “ill-fed” or “hungry” because the food portions given to prisoners are not enough for adults. Aleś Bialiacki is restricted in correspondence; he does not receive letters from relatives and friends.
V. Expulsions from pro-governmental creative unions for civic activism
By the decision of the Belarusian Union of Artists board, nine members were expelled from the organisation for disloyalty to the authorities and dissent. It is known that among those excluded were the imprisoned artist Aleś Puškin, who died in prison on 11 July 2023, and renowned designer Uladzimir Cesler [Tsesler].
VI. Dismissals from cultural institutions
Belarusian State Puppet Theatre did not renew the job contract with director Aliaksiej Lialiaŭski. He had worked in the theatre since 1979. Aliaksiej Lialiaŭski is an honoured artist, the son of Aliaksiej Lialiaŭski, one of the founders of the Belarusian puppet theatre.