As of 15 December 2024, at least 175 cultural figures, including not less than 39 People of Word, were not free – behind bars or in home confinement.
Showman Ivan Vabiščevič, aka Dziadzia Vania, was sentenced to two and a half years in home confinement.
Political prisoner, journalist, travel blogger, and essayist Ihar Karniej was punished with an additional eight months of imprisonment.
Poet and bard Valery Pazniakievič was punished in administrative proceedings for his socio-political poetry.
Harmonica player and performer of folk songs Uładzimir Šakucioŭ was sentenced to ten days of administrative arrest.
Alena Kasarevič, a librarian at the Połack Central District Library, was punished in administrative proceedings.
Journalist, literature translator, and local history collector Rusłan Raviaka was detained.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs designated the troupe of former actors of the Janka Kupała Theatre, Volnyja Kupałaŭcy, as an “extremist formation.”
I. Criminal prosecution of cultural figures, authors, and performers
1. On 8 December, it became known that musician Volha Mikałajeva (drummer) was detained in Baranavičy in a criminal investigation. She is accused of participating in the chat “Baranavičy’s White Wings.”
2. On 10 December, Minsk’s Partyzanski District Court heard the criminal case of musician and showman Ivan Vabiščevič, aka Dziadzia Vania. It sentenced him under Article 342 of the Criminal Code (organising group actions that grossly violate public order) to two years and six months in home confinement. The state news agency BelTA reported: “On 23 August 2020, in the city of Minsk, Vabiščevič actively participated in actions grossly violating public order, used protest symbols, and moved along the roadway, causing disruptions in the work of public transport and the enterprise.”
3. On 10 December, the Brest Regional Court began an in-absentia trial of art manager Alaksandr Čachoŭski. Previously, he was tried along with five other defendants in the so-called “Rudabielskaja pakazucha” case. On 24 June 2024, Čachoŭski was sentenced under Articles 369 (insulting government officials) and 370 (desecration of state symbols) of the Criminal Code to three months of arrest. On 20 September 2024, the Supreme Court vacated the ruling during the appeal and sent the case back for reconsideration.
4. On 11 December, in Škłoŭ, political prisoner Ihar Karniej was punished with an additional eight months of imprisonment under Article 411 of the Criminal Code (malicious disobedience to the requirements of the correctional facility administration). Ihar Karniej is a journalist, essayist, author of texts about Belarusian cultural and historical heritage, and travel blogger. On 22 March 2024, the Minsk City Court sentenced him under Article 361.1 (Part 3) of the Criminal Code (participation in an extremist formation) to three years in a minimum-security penal colony. According to the prosecution, Ihar Karniej continued collaborating with the human rights organisation Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ).
II. Detentions and administrative trials
1. On 2 December, it became known that poet and bard Valery Pazniakievič was punished in administrative proceedings for the socio-political poems he posted on social media.
2. On 3 December, harmonica player and folk song performer Uładzimir Šakucioŭ was detained in Haradok, Viciebsk region. On 4 December, the local District Court sentenced him to ten days of administrative arrest for “spreading extremism” (links to independent news outlets on social media). Uładzimir Šakucioŭ is a participant in the folk harmonica ensemble Haradocki Parnas and creator of the folk group Azieryca, which promotes local musical traditions.
3. On 4 December, Alena Kasarevič, a librarian at the Połack Central District Library, was punished in administrative proceedings under Article 24.23 (Part 1) of the Code of Administrative Offences for “online picketing.”
4. On 5 December, journalist, local historian collector, and translator Ruslan Raviaka was detained in Baranavičy, along with seven former employees of the liquidated local independent newspaper Intex-press. The publication operated from 1994 to 2022 when Intex-press was stripped of its state registration; in April 2023, its website and social media pages were designated “extremist materials.” Ruslan Ravyaka translated stories by Stanisław Lem and the novel The Life of a Disarmed Man by Sergiusz Piasecki from Polish into Belarusian.
III. Persecution for Belarusian national symbols
On 4 December, public activist Mikałaj Ułasievič from the town of Varniany (Astraviec district, Hrodna region) was fined 50 base units (2,000 BYN or $610) because he had the gazebo in his yard painted in national colours.
ІV. Designation of cultural projects as “extremist”
On 13 December, the Ministry of Internal Affairs designated the troupe of former actors of the Janka Kupała Theatre, Volnyja Kupałaŭcy, as an “extremist formation.”. All the troupe’s activities are now banned on internet platforms within Belarus. On 26 August 2020, the actors resigned from the theatre in protest against violence and continued their cultural activities outside Belarus. The Ministry of Internal Affairs warned that “individuals participating in or transmitting any information to members of the formation will be treated as participants in an extremist formation and prosecuted under Articles 361-1 and 361-4 of the Criminal Code of Belarus (up to seven years in prison).”