As of 28 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 trial has begun in a new criminal case against political prisoner and cultural manager Eduard Babaryka.
Actress and model Vieranika Žałuboŭskaja‘s arrest became known.
A criminal trial has begun against journalist and non-fiction writer Ihar Iljaš.
Writer and journalist Palina Pitkievič’s arrest was reported.
A closed-door trial has begun in the criminal case against photographer Nastassia Achramienka.
A new trial has started against the political prisoner and anarchist movement activist, prison literature author Alaksandr Franckievič.
Former Belarusian language and literature teacher Anžalika Alasiuk is now on trial.
The Wildberries marketplace has removed from its catalogue the Russian-language book Twenty Years of Slavery: Belarus Today by Siarhiej Siuzieŭ, following the instruction from the prosecutor’s office.
I. Criminal prosecution of cultural figures, authors, and performers
1. On 20 February, the Vaŭkavysk District Court began a new criminal case against political prisoner and cultural manager Eduard Babaryka. He is charged under Article 411 of the Criminal Code (persistent disobedience to the demands of the administration of a correctional facility). Eduard Babaryka led the nomination group for his father, Viktar Babaryka, to run as a candidate in the 2020 presidential election. He was detained with his father on 18 June 2020 when they went to the Central Election Commission to submit collected signatures. He is serving an 8-year sentence in Correctional Colony No. 2 in Babrujsk. He was convicted under Article 342 (organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order), Article 243 (tax evasion), Article 130 (inciting hatred or discord), and Article 411 mentioned above. In July 2024, Babaryka was sentenced to an additional 2 years in prison, once again accused of disobedience to the administration of a correctional facility.
2. On 20 February, the arrest of actress and model Vieranika Žałuboŭskaja was reported. Her trial begins on 4 March 2025 in Minsk’s Frunzienski District Court. She is charged under Part 1, Article 342 of the Criminal Code (organizing and preparing actions that violate public order) for participating in the 2020 protests.
3. On 21 February, the Minsk City Court began the criminal trial of journalist and non-fiction writer Ihar Iljaš. He is accused under Article 369-1 (discrediting Belarus) and Part 2, Article 361-4 (facilitating extremist activities). His detention was reported on 22 October 2024. Ihar Iljaš is a journalist who, along with his wife, journalist Kaciaryna Andrejeva (Bachvałava) (currently a political prisoner), co-authored the book Belarusian Donbas (2020) about Belarusians’ participation in the war in eastern Ukraine. In March 2021, a court declared the book “extremist.”
4. On 24 February 2025, the arrest of writer and journalist Palina Pitkievič was reported. Her trial begins on 7 March in the Minsk City Court. Pitkievič is charged under Part 3, Article 361-1 (participation in an extremist formation). The State Security Committee (KGB) considers her linked to the “extremist formation” MediaIQ, a Press Club Belarus project that promotes media literacy. Palina Pitkievič wrote journalistic articles on cultural topics and performed as an actress at the Social Theatre Laboratory in Minsk. She graduated from the Faculty of Journalism, specializing in creative writing. In 2020, she took third place in the “Nieba z saboju” literary competition organized by PEN Belarus as part of the Uładzimir Karatkievič Traveling Festival.
5. On 25 February, the Mazyr District Court began a closed-door criminal trial of photographer Nastassia Achramienka, accused under Part 2, Article 367 of the Criminal Code (slander of the president).
6. On 27 February, the Orša District Court opened a new trial of political prisoner, anarchist activist, and prison literature author Alaksandr Franckievič. He is charged under Part 2, Article 411 (persistent disobedience to the administration of a correctional facility). Six months ago, he was already sentenced under this article. He had previously been held incommunicado for several months. Before his current imprisonment, Franckievič was a political prisoner from September 2010 to September 2013. While in prison, he wrote short stories The Diary of a Lost Girl and Hug Me Tighter, which were included in the book The Voice of Freedom from Behind Bars: An Anthology of Works by Belarusian Political Prisoners (2013). In 2013, his Hug Me Tighter won the Francišak Alachnovič Award, established by PEN Belarus and Radio Svaboda for the best work written in prison. He was detained again on 13 August 2020. On 6 September 2022, the Minsk City Court sentenced Alaksandr Franckievič to 17 years in a medium-security penal colony and fined him 22 400 rubles (over $8,800). He served his sentence in Colony No. 5 in Ivacevičy before being transferred to Colony No. 11 in Vaŭkavysk. In 2024, the colony administration initiated another criminal case against him under Article 411, leading to an additional one-year sentence. He was then transferred to Colony No. 8 in Orša, where the administration launched another criminal case. On 10 February 2025, the Viciebsk Regional Court began the criminal trial of his mother, Tacciana Franckievič, and his aunt, Natalla Łabacevič, under charges of facilitating extremist activities (Article 361-4). They were detained on 19 July 2024 in Navapołack when they brought a care package for Alaksandr Franckievič to the penal colony.
7. On 27 February, Frunzienski District Court of Minsk opened the trial of former Belarusian language and literature teacher Anžalika Alasiuk under Part 1, Article 368 of the Criminal Code (insulting the president).
II. Detentions and administrative trials
On 20 February, the conductor of the symphony orchestra of the Brest Academic Drama Theater (since 2007) and the head of the brass band of the Brest Music College, Alaksandr Kuŭšynnikaŭ, appeared in Leninski District Court of Brest under Part 2 of Article 19.11 of the Code of Administrative Offences (distribution of extremist materials).
III. Conditions in the places of incarceration
Natalla Pinčuk, the wife of political prisoner, human rights activist, writer, and Nobel Prize laureate Aleś Bialacki, rarely receives postcards from him. ‘I received a postcard from him with a short text: “Everything is the same with me.” Essentially, this text is in all the postcards I rarely receive.”
IV. Repressions in the book sector
On 19 February, the Wildberries marketplace removed from its catalogue the Russian-language book Twenty Years of Slavery: Belarus Today by Siarhiej Siuzieŭ, following the instruction from the prosecutor’s office. The 2017 book was labelled “extremist” in April 2023.