Born on 18 July 1988.
Journalist, a philosopher by education, co-author of the documentary book Belarusian Donbas (K. Andrejeva, I. Iljaš. Belorussky Donbas. 2020. ISBN: 978-966-03-9020-1), written together with his wife Kaciaryna Andrejeva (Bachvalava) – she has been in prison since 2020 due to a politically motivated case.
The book was labelled “extremist” in Belarus in 2021.
The book Belarusian Donbas contains the stories of Belarusian citizens who fought on the side of Ukraine and Russian occupation forces since 2014.
In November 2020, Ihar Iljaš was arrested for 15 days for “participating in picketing.”
In July 2021, he was arrested for 15 days during mass searches and detentions of independent journalists.
On 22 October 2024, it became known that Ihar Iljaš was detained in Minsk. As seen in the video footage of the apartment break-in, four police commandos were deployed to detain him.
On 22 October, a Telegram channel linked to the security services published a video with Ihar Iljaš. In the teaser, the authors of the channel wrote: “Following the steps of his wife. This Polish journalist-spy, together with his wife, was involved in promoting extremist formations and collecting information for foreign intelligence. His spouse has been in prison for extremism and state treason for a long time while her husband was still at large, as his activities were carefully documented. We have corrected this blatant injustice.”
On 30 October 2024, it became known that Ihar Iljaš was transferred to the pre-trial detention centre in Kaliadzičy. It means that he has been officially charged with a crime.
On November 22, 2024, Ihar Iljaš was recognized as a political prisoner.
Please write letters to the following address: Ihar Uladzimiravič Iljaš, pre-trial detention centre No. 1, Navadvorski village council, 143/4, Paškovičy, Minsk district, Minsk region, 223016.