As of 15 February 2025, at least 170 cultural figures, including not less than 36 People of Word, were not free – behind bars or in home confinement.
The author of non-fiction literature, Ihar Iljaš, was charged under Article 369-1 of the Criminal Code (discrediting Belarus) and Part 2 of Article 361-4 of the Criminal Code (facilitating extremist activities).
A new trial has begun against the political prisoner, screenwriter, and musician Kirył Vieviel.
Hanna Arciuškievič, an author of fantasy novels, was tried for the “distribution of extremist materials.”
There have been no phone calls from political prisoner, journalist, and poet Dzianis Ivašyn for three months.
A criminal trial has begun against the relatives of the author of prison literature, Alaksandr Franckievič — Tacciana Franckievič (mother) and Natalla Łabacevič (aunt).
A court in Belarus added the following books to the list of “extremist” materials: memoirs by journalist and political figure Siarhiej Navumčyk: Ninety-Second (2017) and Ninety-Third (2018); the album Belarusian People’s Republic-100: Celebrating the 100th Anniversary in Belarus and Abroad (2019); Marat Haravy’s NKVD Executions in Kurapaty… (2019); a collection of short stories Čarviak (Worm) by political prisoner, prison literature author Zmicier Daškievič.
The “Cudoŭnia” store owner in Hrodna, Andrej Niesciarovič, was arrested for participating in the 2020 protests. He is currently being held in pre-trial detention.
I. Criminal prosecution of cultural figures, authors, and performers
1. On 7 February, the criminal charges for the author of non-fiction literature, Ihar Iljaš, became known – Article 369-1 of the Criminal Code (discrediting Belarus) and Part 2 of Article 361-4 of the Criminal Code (facilitating extremist activities). The Minsk City Court will hear the criminal case on 21 February. Ihar Iljaš’s detention was reported on 22 October 2024. He is a journalist who, together with his wife, journalist (now political prisoner) Kaciaryna Andrejeva (Bachvałava), published the book Belarusian Donbas (2020) about the participation of Belarusians in the war in Eastern Ukraine. In March 2021, a court ruled that this book was “extremist.”
2. On 14 February, a new trial began in the Minsk City Court against political prisoner, screenwriter, and musician Kirył Vieviel. He is charged under Part 3 of Article 361-1 of the Criminal Code (participation in an extremist formation) and Part 1 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code (incitement to hatred and discord). In September 2024, Kirył Vieviel was sentenced to three years in a penal colony under Article 361 of the Criminal Code (calls for actions aimed at harming the national security of the Republic of Belarus).
3. On 6 February, the owner of the Hrodna-based store “Cudoŭnia,” Andrej Niesciarovič, was detained, reportedly in connection with a criminal case for participating in the 2020 protests. He is being held in pre-trial detention until the court hearing. The ethnographic store “Cudoŭnia” has operated in Hrodna since 2015, selling souvenirs and handmade products by Belarusian artisans. After the 2020 elections, the store faced fines and eviction from its premises. Previously, Andrej Niesciarovič had been detained for short-term administrative arrests.
II. Detentions and administrative trials
On 14 February, fantasy novel author Hanna Arciuškievič appeared in Minsk’s Saviecki District Court under Part 2 of Article 19.11 of the Code of Administrative Offences (distribution of extremist materials).
III. Conditions in the places of incarceration
For three months, there have been no phone calls from Dzianis Ivašyn, a political prisoner, journalist, poet, and the 2024 laureate of the Francišak Alachnovič Prize for poetry written in prison. His wife, Volha Ivašyna, suspects that he may have been placed in a punitive confinement cell.
IV. Repressions against the family members of political prisoners People of Word
On 10 February, a trial began in the Viciebsk Regional Court in the criminal case against the relatives of prison literature author Alaksandr Franckievič —his mother, Tacciana Franckievič, and his aunt, Natalla Łabacevič. They are accused under Article 361-4 of the Criminal Code (facilitating extremist activities). The women were detained on 19 July 2024 in Navapolack when they brought a care package for Alaksandr Franckievič to the penal colony. Alaksandr Franckievič is a two-time political prisoner; he served his first sentence on politically motivated charges from 2010 to 2013. In 2013, he became a laureate of the Francišak Alachnovič Award for his short story Hug Me Tighter, written in prison. On 6 September 2022, Alaksandr Franckievič was sentenced to 17 years of imprisonment.
V. Repressions in the book sector
1. On 4 February, it became known that Minsk’s Zavodski District Court ruled to designate the album Belarusian People’s Republic-100: Celebrating the 100th Anniversary in Belarus and Abroad (2019) and Marat Haravy’s book NKVD Executed in Kurapaty… (2019) as “extremist materials.”
2. On 11 February, Minsk’s Zavodski District Court added two books of memoirs by journalist and political figure Siarhiej Navumčyk — Ninety-Second (2017) and Ninety-Third (2018)—to the list of “extremist materials.”
3. On 11 February, Minsk’s Zavodski District Court also labelled Čarviak (The Worm) (2013) — a collection of short stories by political prisoner and prison literature author Zmicier Daškievič — as “extremist materials.”