As of 31 May 2025, at least 154 cultural figures, including 36 writers, were not free – imprisoned or in home confinement.
Cultural promoter and owner of the ethno-shop “Cudoŭnia,” Andrej Niesciarovič, was sentenced to one and a half years of restricted freedom in an open-type correctional facility.
Journalist and non-fiction writer Alena Pankratava was sentenced to restricted freedom without placement in a correctional facility (home confinement).
A court in Belarus found activist and cultural promoter Nina Bahinskaja guilty of “repeated violations of the law on mass gatherings”. However, the judge ruled that a conviction without sentencing was warranted under Article 79 of the Criminal Code and ordered “preventive supervision” for the 78-year-old activist.
The administrator of Belarusian Wikipedia, Maksim Lepušenka, was detained.
Communication with non-fiction writer Cina Pałynskaja stopped.
A Belarus court designated as “extremist” the Instagram page of the London-based Belarusian publishing house “Skaryna”.
The Instagram page of writer Saša Filipienka (Sasha Filipienka) was labelled “extremist” by a court in Belarus.
The court designated as “extremist” the non-fiction books: Ukrainian Night: Very Personal Stories of the Revolution and Where There Is No Darkness: Radio Svaboda.
A court declared “extremist” the detective novel Murder on Makajonka Street, allegedly written by artificial intelligence and partially related to the 2020 protests.
The Ministry of Information added 18 items to the list of printed publications banned for distribution in Belarus. Among them is The Wasp Factory.
A court designated the website and social media pages associated with a political prisoner and prison literature author, Mikoła Dziadok, as “extremist materials”.
A court declared the song “Run, Lukashenko, to Rostov!” to be “extremist”.
A court labelled the Facebook page of musician, writer, and artist Lavon Volski as “extremist”.
In the village of Małyja Siachnovičy in the Brest region, the bust of Tadevuš Kasciuška (Tadeusz Kościuszko), leader of the 1794 national liberation uprising, was dismantled.
I. Criminal prosecution of cultural figures, authors, and performers
1. On 16 May, a court in Hrodna sentenced Belarusian cultural promoter and owner of the ethno-shop “Cudoŭnia” Andrej Niesciarovič, under Article 342 of the Criminal Code (organising, preparing, or actively participating in actions that grossly violate public order) to one year and six months of restricted freedom in an open-type correctional facility. Andrej Niesciarovič was detained on 7 February 2025 and held in Prison No. 1 in Hrodna before trial.
2. On 18 May, reports appeared that journalist and non-fiction author Alena Pankratava was convicted for participating in the 2020 post-election protests under Article 342 of the Criminal Code (organising, preparing or actively participating in actions that grossly violate public order) to restricted freedom without placement in an open-type correctional facility (home confinement).
3. On 30 May, Minsk’s Pieršamajski District Court conducted a hearing against 78-year-old civil activist and cultural promoter Nina Bahinskaja under Article 342-2 of the Criminal Code (repeated violation of the procedure for organising or holding mass events) for displaying national symbols on the streets of Minsk in 2024. The charges were based on administrative offence reports and court rulings from 2024 related to the use of national symbols. One offence report was filed over a T-shirt with the slogan “No to war!”
The court found Nina Bahinskaja guilty of “repeated violation of the law on mass events” but applied Article 79 of the Criminal Code (conviction without sentencing), assigning “preventive supervision” for the activist.
II. Administrative persecution
1. On 15 May, the administrator of the Belarusian Wikipedia, Maksim Lepušenka, who wrote about Belarusian history, culture, and literature, was detained in Minsk.
2. On 19 May, non-fiction writer Cina Pałynskaja stopped responding to communications. In June 2022, she was fined 3,200 BYN (approximately $1,230) for wearing yellow and blue ribbons, while the Investigative Committee launched a probe into her anti-war posts on Facebook. On 5 June 2022, police searched her apartment.
III. Repression in the publishing sector and book bans
1. On 15 May, the Maładziečna District Court labelled the Instagram page of the London-based Belarusian publisher “Skaryna” as “extremist.”
2. On 15 May, in connection with a criminal case in Russia against employees of the publisher Eksmo on “extremism” charges, the Ministry of Information of Belarus demanded that book distributors “conduct an audit of the printed publications on sale”.
3. On 19 May, Minsk’s Saviecki District Court declared the Instagram page of writer Saša Filipienka (Sasha Filipienka) to be “extremist”.
4. On 23 May, Minsk’s Kastryčnicki District Court designated two non-fiction books as “extremist”: Ukrainian Night: Very Personal Stories of the Revolution by Marci Shore and Where There Is No Darkness: Radio Svaboda by Alaksandr Łukašuk, the former long-time head of Radio Svaboda’s Belarusian service.
5. On 23 May, Minsk’s Kastryčnicki District Court declared the book Murder on Makajonka Street “extremist.” This detective novel was published by Belarusian Audiobooks, a publisher that claims the book was written by artificial intelligence at their request, based on selected prose works from contemporary Belarusian literature, news from 2020–2022, and plots from the “golden age of British detective fiction”. The author is listed as Klok Štučny.
6. On 29 May, the Ministry of Information added 18 more books to the list of printed publications banned from distribution in Belarus. The list now includes 110 items. Among the newly forbidden books is The Wasp Factory – the globally renowned novel by Scottish writer Iain Banks.
7. On 29 May, Minsk’s Central District Court designated the website and social media pages associated with political prisoner and prison literature author Mikoła Dziadok as “extremist materials”.
IV. Repression in the music sphere
1. On 20 May, the Homiel District Court labelled the song “Run, Lukashenko, to Rostov!” (Full title: “Run, Lukashenko, to Rostov! A Ceausescu Fate for Sasha | Karamelka Cover/Remix (Aleksin) on Guitar) by S. Marozaŭ as “extremist”.
2. On 27 May, Brest’s Leninski District Court designated the Facebook page of musician, writer, and artist Lavon Volski as “extremist”. Previously, Lavon Volski’s Telegram channel and Instagram page were also labelled “extremist”.
V. Destruction of memorial sites
On 20 May, reports appeared that in the village of Malyja Siachnovičy, Brest Region, a bust of Tadevuš Kasciuška (Tadeusz Kościuszko), the leader of the national liberation uprising of 1794, was dismantled. Created by sculptor Balbina Świtycz-Widacka in 1932, the bust was installed in 1988 on the grounds of the former Kasciuška estate. Mentions of Tadevuš Kasciuška have also disappeared from the website of the local history museum near which the bust stood. Previously, the museum featured a dedicated exhibit on his life, which has since been replaced with a new theme: “Crimes of Fascism. Genocide of the Belarusian People During the Great Patriotic War”.
Tadevuš Kasciuška lived in Malyja Siachnovičy for four years after returning from the United States, where he had participated in the War of Independence. He is considered a national hero of Belarus, Poland, Lithuania, and the United States and is an honorary citizen of France.