As of 15 September 2025, at least 150 cultural figures, including 33 writers, were not free – either imprisoned or in home confinement.
Jan Marozaŭ, a Wikipedia contributor, received a new sentence of 2.5 years in prison.
Vieranika Janoŭskaja, a singer and head of the vocal studio Artvakal, was sentenced to home confinement.
Information emerged that former political prisoner, journalist, and local historian Aleś Lubiančuk was arrested again.
Alina Šaŭcova, a student of the Minsk State Linguistic University, was convicted for participating in a women’s leadership school.
The trial of journalist and political analyst Ihar Iljaš, charged with “discrediting the state” and “assisting an extremist formation”, continued in Minsk.
Singer, tour guide, and teacher Alaksiej Halič stopped communicating.
Mikoła Dziadok, author of prison literature, spoke about torture while in prison.
Cultural scholar Vacłaŭ Areška lost his eyesight in a penal colony.
Philosopher Uładzimir Mackievič and trade union leader Hienadź Fiadynič reported the confiscation of manuscripts they had written in prison.
Prison authorities forced political prisoner Ilja Dubski to cut from his shoulder, with a razor blade, a tattoo of the Pahonia (the historic Belarusian coat of arms).
Prosecutor General Andrej Švied filed a statement with the Supreme Court about the designation of the European Humanities University as an “extremist organisation”.
Censors cancelled the premiere of the play Sisters Grimm at the Puppet Theatre in Minsk.
I. Criminal prosecution of cultural figures, authors, and performers
1. On 1 September, it was reported that on 25 August, Minsk’s Frunzienski District Court handed down a new sentence to Wikipedia contributor Ivan (Jan) Marozaŭ – two and a half years in a minimum-security penal colony. This was not his first prosecution. He had initially been detained in January 2023. On 28 April 2023, the Pieršamajski District Court of Minsk sentenced him to one and a half years in a minimum-security penal colony under Article 342 of the Criminal Code (organising or actively participating in group actions that grossly violate public order) for his involvement in peaceful protests against the falsification of the 2020 election results. He served his sentence in Penal Colony No. 17 and was released on 17 April 2024. In June 2025, Marozaŭ was detained again under Article 368 of the Criminal Code (insulting the president).
2. On 1 September, it also became known that on 5 August, a court changed the incarceration regime for activist and author of prison prose Alaksandr Franckievič, sentencing him to three years of imprisonment in the Žodzina prison.
3. On 11 September, it was reported that jazz singer and vocal coach Vieranika Janoŭskaja, co-founder of the ensemble Pa-Dzieja, was sentenced to home confinement under Article 342 of the Criminal Code (organising, preparing or actively participating in actions that grossly violate public order) for taking part in protests.
4. On 10 September, news emerged of the re-arrest of former political prisoner, journalist, and local historian Aleś Lubiančuk. Lubienčuk, who had organised hiking tours and promoted the restoration of cultural heritage in the Navahrudak region, was detained in May 2022 and sentenced to three years in prison for cooperating with an “extremist formation” (Belsat TV). He served his full sentence in Penal Colony No. 15 in Mahiloŭ and was released in January 2025.
5. On 8 September, it was reported that Alina Šaŭcova, a student at the Minsk State Linguistic University, was convicted under Article 361-1 of the Criminal Code (establishment of an extremist formation) for her participation in a women’s leadership school – an educational project designed to develop leadership skills among Belarusian female students.
6. On 4 and 5 September, the Minsk City Court heard in an open session the findings of a linguistic examination of publications by imprisoned journalist Ihar Iljaš. The assessment had been prepared over several months by Siarhiej Lebiadzinski, Doctor of Philological Sciences, who heads the Department of Theory and Methods of Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language at the Faculty of Philology of Belarusian State University. The trial of Iljaš began on 21 February 2025. After three hearings, on 12 March, Judge Siarhiej Kacar adjourned the proceedings to allow for a psycholinguistic examination of 15 analytical articles authored by the journalist. The court also rejected a motion by Iljaš requesting that the examination be conducted by the State Centre for Forensic Examinations.
Journalist Siarhiej Vahanaŭ, grandfather of Iljaš’s wife, fellow imprisoned journalist Kaciaryna Andrejeva, described on his Facebook page the court proceedings of 4 and 5 September. In his view, the expert evaluation of Iljaš’s publications was based on Mr Liebiadzinski’s political beliefs rather than objective analysis. Vahanaŭ noted: “For example, the expert considers it inappropriate for a journalist or political analyst to use the term ‘political prisoners’ because such a concept does not exist in Belarusian legislation. That’s right, it does not exist in Belarusian law, but it does exist in international political science, as does the term ‘political emigration’. Yet, according to the expert, one should instead use the expression ‘fugitive oppositionists’. Similarly, the word ‘dictatorship’, which is regularly used by representatives of the authorities themselves, including the head of state, was declared entirely unacceptable. […] Nor, according to the expert, should the phrase ‘war against Ukraine’ be used; it must be described instead as a ‘war against the Kyiv regime’ rather than against the people. As proof, he claimed that Russian troops ‘do not capture – or rather, do not liberate – cities because they are concerned about the population living there’.”
7. On 12 September, the Minsk City Court held another open hearing in Ihar Iljaš’s case, in which he faces charges of “discrediting the state” and “assisting an extremist formation”. The judge announced the conclusion of the investigation phase and the beginning of closing arguments. The prosecution requested a prison sentence of four years and a fine of 100 base units. The defence called for acquittal. In his final statement, Iljaš rejected all charges and pleaded not guilty. The Minsk City Court opened the trial of Ihar Iljaš on 21 February 2025 on charges of discrediting Belarus (Article 369-1 of the Criminal Code) and facilitating extremist activities (Part 2 of Article 361-4 of the Criminal Code).
II. Detentions of cultural figures
On 15 September, it was reported that singer, tour guide, and teacher Alaksiej Halič ceased communication. According to his friends, contact with him was lost at the beginning of September: his phone remains off, and he has not shown up for work.
III. Torture in the places of incarceration
1. On 12 September, Mikoła Dziadok, a prison literature author who was released and deported to Lithuania on 11 September among 52 political prisoners, spoke at a press conference about the torture he endured: “Out of nearly five years in prison, I spent one year in solitary confinement. If people from the civilised world could see what solitary confinement looks like, they would think they had been transported back to the Middle Ages. In the autumn, in the Hrodna prison, I would wake up to the sound of grown men howling and calling for their mothers. In the middle of the night, they were suffering so much in that freezing cell that they could not sleep. Before my eyes, people lost their sanity, literally went mad. They began to hear voices. And you know, nobody even struck them. Some think that torture means putting a person on the rack and stretching them, but it is not like that. I became convinced that you can drive someone insane, or even kill them, simply by leaving them alone in a solitary cell. The administration just manipulates their basic needs – and the person either loses their mind or dies; it is only a matter of time.”
2. On 12 September, it was reported that representatives of the penal colony administration forced political prisoner Ilja Dubski to cut a tattoo of the Pahonia emblem from his shoulder with a razor blade. Between 1991 and 1995, Pahonia served as the official coat of arms of independent Belarus. Since 2007, it has been in the country’s register of historical and cultural heritage.
IV. Loss of health in places of incarceration
On 12 September, journalist Alaksandr Mancevič, who was released and deported to Lithuania on 11 September as part of a group of 52 political prisoners, spoke at a press conference about the deteriorating health of cultural historian Vacłaŭ Areška, who lost his sight while in prison. “When I was first brought in and placed on the bunk next to him, he could still read. Today, he is completely blind. When you take him by the arm to the canteen, he asks whether the sun is shining in the sky. During the day, someone will guide him and help, but at night, he gets up to attend to his needs and wanders down the long corridor, stumbling, falling, bleeding… This happens repeatedly, and his condition continues to worsen. He writes letters to his wife using a stencil she sent him, and her letters are read aloud to him by other prisoners. I am asking anyone who can help to pay attention to his fate. And you must understand that Vacłaŭ Areška is not the only one. Other people have also lost – and are continuing to lose – their health there.”
V. Confiscation of manuscripts in places of incarceration
On 12 September, trade union leader Hienadź Fiadynič, who was released and deported to Lithuania on 11 September as part of a group of 52 political prisoners, stated at a press conference that he had begun writing poetry while in prison. However, KGB agents confiscated all of his works and notes.
On 13 September, philosopher Uładzimir Mackievič, also released and deported to Lithuania as part of the same group, described the confiscation of manuscripts written during his imprisonment:
“When it became clear that we were being taken abroad, I experienced two excruciating moments. The first was the realisation that I was being forcibly removed from my country. The second was that all my writings were taken away from me. In certain moments, when I was left undisturbed, I was visited – to use lofty words – by inspiration. And I believe that some of the pages and notebooks I wrote then were among the best work I have ever produced in philosophy, in my research. Sadly, all of it was confiscated. That remains my greatest pain.”
VI. Designation of cultural and educational institutions as “extremist”
On 15 September, Prosecutor General Andrej Švied, following a proposal from the State Security Committee (KGB), submitted an application to the Supreme Court seeking to designate the European Humanities University (EHU) as an “extremist organisation”. In practice, this would mean a ban on the activities of EHU, as well as on the use of its symbols and attributes within Belarus.
The Prosecutor General alleged that EHU “is used by the security services of certain neighbouring countries to harm the interests of Belarus in the political, humanitarian, and information spheres.” Among the grievances cited against the university, the Prosecutor’s Office specifically referred to the “promotion of European values”.
VII. Censorship
On 12 September, authorities cancelled the scheduled premiere of the black comedy The Grimm Sisters at the Puppet Theatre in Minsk. Earlier that day, the theatre had held its customary pre-premiere performance, attended by a commission from the Ministry of Culture responsible for preventive censorship. Following the review, the commission decided not to authorise the play for public showing.