As of 31 August 2025, at least 160 cultural figures, including 41 writers, were not free – either imprisoned or in home confinement.
Belarusian Wikipedia editor Maksim Lepušenka was sentenced to two and a half years of restricted freedom in home confinement.
Jahor Bužyłaŭ, production director of the jewellery brand Belaruskicry, was detained as part of a criminal case.
Actress and model Kaciaryna Javid was sentenced to home confinement.
The website of the European Humanities University (ehu.lt) and the university’s several social media channels were designated as “extremist”.
A plaque with inscriptions in Polish and Belarusian disappeared from the wall of a Catholic church in Brasłaŭ.
I. Criminal prosecution of cultural figures, authors, and performers
1. On 19 August, it emerged that Minsk’s Central District Court had sentenced Belarusian Wikipedia editor and author Maksim Lepušenka to two and a half years in home confinement. Lepušenka, known for his contributions on history, culture, literature and contemporary Belarusian authors, was detained on 5 May 2025 and held in pre-trial detention centre No. 1. He was charged under Article 342 of the Criminal Code (organisation and preparation of actions grossly violating public order, or active participation in them) for taking part in the peaceful protests of 2020.
2. On 22 August, musician Michaił Stocik was added to the official list of “citizens of Belarus, foreign citizens and stateless persons involved in extremist activities”. Earlier, the Dokšycy District Court in the Viciebsk region convicted him under Article 342, Part 1, of the Criminal Code. He is believed to have been sentenced in mid-2025 to home confinement. Stocik, who once ran a recording studio in Minsk, is also thought to have played in the Minsk-based band ProSSpekt.
3. On 27 August, reports emerged that Jahor Bužyłaŭ, production director of the jewellery brand Belaruskicry, had been detained after returning to Belarus. Just weeks earlier, on 26 July, the KGB labelled Belaruskicry an “extremist formation”.
4. On 30 August, it was reported that Minsk’s Central District Court had sentenced actress and model Kaciaryna Javid to house confinement. She was convicted under Article 342 of the Criminal Code in connection with the 2020 peaceful protests. Javid has appeared in twelve films and television series.
II. Repression in the music field
On 18 August, the Homiel District Prosecutor’s Office, during its monitoring, identified two songs by a Russian performer written in 2020 which, in the prosecutors’ view, “contain insults against the President of the Republic of Belarus, deliberately false information about the social and political situation in the country, and calls for the violent overthrow of the constitutional order”. Following the prosecutor’s submission, the Homiel District Court declared the musical compositions “extremist materials”.
III. Designation of cultural and educational institutions as “extremist”
On 22 August, it was reported that the website of the European Humanities University (ehu.lt) and the university’s several social media platforms were designated as “extremist”.
According to a ruling by the Central District Court of Minsk, the following platforms were included: the website ehu.lt; the Instagram account @Ehuofficial; the Facebook account @Ehuofficial; the university’s LinkedIn page; and the YouTube channel @EHUCampaigner.
IV. Destruction of memorial sites
On 23 August, participants of a pilgrimage noticed that a granite plaque had disappeared from the wall of the Catholic church in Brasłaŭ. The plaque, inscribed in Polish and Belarusian, read: “In memory of the Poles who gave their work, struggle and lives to the land of Brasłaŭ and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth”.
The plaque had been brought from Poland in 2009 and installed by members of the National Association of Brasłaŭians in Poland (Krajowe Stowarzyszenie Brasławian), which is comprised of natives of the Brasłaŭ region and their descendants.