As of 30 September 2025, at least 151 cultural figures, including 33 writers, were not free – either imprisoned or in home confinement.
Journalist and writer Ihar Iljaš was sentenced to four years in a penal colony and fined 100 base units, payable to the state, for his comments to independent media.
Sentences were also announced for the artists Ihar Rymašeŭski and Ludmiła Ščamialova. Vocal coach Maryna Rapaviec was convicted for participating in protests.
Reports emerged that Kirył Kraŭcoŭ, founder of the art village Čyrvony Kastryčnik, was arrested.
The married couple of accordion teachers, Lilija Pažaryckaja and Alaksandr Pažarycki, were sentenced to restricted freedom.
A sentence was delivered ‘in special proceedings’ against artist Vijaleta Majšuk Maishuk from Pietrykaŭ.
Journalist and writer Andrej Mialeška is facing three separate criminal cases.
Singer, tour guide and teacher Alaksiej Halič served 15 days of administrative arrest in the Akrescina detention centre.
The manuscripts of writer and former political prisoner Mikoła Dziadok, known for his prison literature, were confiscated in the penal colony.
Human rights defender and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aleś Bialacki underwent surgery in a prison hospital.
Former political prisoner Jaŭhien Mierkis reported that inmates in the penal colony are subjected to additional punishment for speaking Belarusian.
The list of publications deemed “capable of harming the national interests of the Republic of Belarus” was expanded by 32 titles, including Saša Filipienka’s (Sasha Filipenko) anti-war novel The Elephant.
I. Criminal prosecution of cultural figures, authors, and performers
1. On 16 September 2025, the Minsk City Court sentenced journalist and writer Ihar Iljaš for comments given to independent media. He was convicted under Article 361-4 of the Criminal Code (facilitating extremist activity) and Article 369-1 (discrediting Belarus). The court imposed a sentence of four years in a penal colony and a fine of 100 base units (equivalent to approximately 4,200 Belarusian rubles or 1,382 US dollars). Iljaš, a trained philosopher, is the co-author of the documentary book “Belarusian Donbas” (2020), written with his wife, journalist Kaciaryna Andrejeva (Bachvałava), who has been imprisoned since 2020 on politically motivated charges. The book documents stories of Belarusians who fought both on the side of Ukraine and alongside Russian occupying forces. In 2021, it was designated as an “extremist” organisation in Belarus.
2. On 18 September, it was reported that vocal teacher Maryna Rapaviec had been convicted for her participation in the 2020 protests. She was sentenced to home confinement under Article 342 of the Criminal Code (for organising, preparing, or actively participating in actions that grossly violate public order). Her name was added to the Ministry of Interior’s “list of extremists”. Rapaviec had been detained in June 2025.
3. On 24 September, it became known that on 23 August, the Minsk City Court sentenced the married couple of artists Ihar Rymašeŭski and Ludmiła Ščamialova to one year and two months in a minimum-security penal colony. As they had already spent this time in pre-trial detention since October 2024, they were released following the verdict. Rymašeŭski had been accused of insulting the president and inciting hatred. At the same time, Ščamialova was charged under Article 342 of the Criminal Code (organising, preparing or actively participating in actions that grossly violate public order). Both were detained in October 2024 on politically motivated grounds. On 2 August 2025, further details of their detention became known – information provided to human rights defenders by a prisoner who had been held together with Ludmiła Ščamialova in a temporary detention facility. She recounted: “They came with a search warrant to the home of a man who had one of her [Ščamialova’s] paintings on the wall. It had no white-red-white flag, it wasn’t protest-themed, but they simply didn’t like it. That’s why they then came with a search warrant to Ludmiła and her husband, Ihar Rymašeŭski”.
4. On 25 September, it was reported that the founder of the art village Čyrvony Kastryčnik (Red October), Kirył Kraŭcoŭ, had been arrested in June 2025 and remains in custody under charges of “facilitating extremist activity” (Article 361-4). He was detained as part of the “Hajun case”, in which hundreds of individuals were accused of sending information to the “Belarusian Hajun” Telegram channel about the movements of Russian military equipment in Belarus. Kraŭcoŭ had established the Red October art village in Rečyca district, creating a pottery workshop, hosting festivals, and organising creative gatherings. A participant in the campaign “With a Stool to the Ocean”, he hitchhiked halfway around the world.
5. It became known on 25 September that the married couple of accordion players and coaches, Lilija Pažaryckaja and Alaksandr Pažarycki, were sentenced to home confinement for their participation in the 2020 protests, under Part 1 Article 342 of the Criminal Code (organising, preparing or actively participating in actions that grossly violate public order).
6. On 25 September, the Homiel Regional Court sentenced in absentia artist Vijaleta Majšuk from Pietrykaŭ to three years in a penal colony under Articles 361-1 (creation of an extremist formation) and 368 (insulting the president).
7. On 30 September, it was reported that three criminal cases had been opened against journalist and writer Andrej Mialeška, under Articles 361-1 (creation or participation in an extremist formation), 361-2 (financing extremist activity), and 361-4 (facilitating extremist activity).
II. Administrative arrests of cultural figures
On 16 September, it was reported that singer, tour guide and teacher Alaksiej Halič had served 15 days of administrative detention in September at the Akrescina detention centre for allegedly engaging in “unauthorised online picketing”.
III. Confiscation of manuscripts at places of incarceration
On 20 September, prison literature author Mikoła Dziadok reported that his letters and manuscripts had been confiscated upon his release from the penal colony.
IV. Loss of health in places of incarceration
1. On 23 September, cameraman Viačasłaŭ Łazaraŭ, released on 11 September, reported on the health condition of imprisoned literary scholar, political prisoner Alaksandr Fiaduta:
“We met and talked with Fiaduta, although everyone had been warned not to approach him, as this would immediately result in a spell in the punishment cell. He has lost a great deal of weight. He walks with a stick and most often requires assistance to move around, as walking independently is difficult. His main health issue is his heart. He is frequently taken to the Main Prison Hospital, most recently a few months ago. Yet he keeps his spirits up, makes jokes, and it is always interesting to talk with him on any topic. Contact with Fiaduta is punished by confinement in the punishment cell – previously for 10 days, now for 15.”
2. On 25 September, it was reported that human rights defender and writer Aleś Bialacki, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, had undergone leg surgery during the summer at the prison hospital in Kaladzičy, near Minsk. He had been transferred there from the penal colony in Horki.
V. Persecution for speaking Belarusian in places of incarceration
On 17 September, former political prisoner Jaŭhien Mierkis reported that prisoners in penal colonies face additional punishment for using the Belarusian language: they are placed on a “preventive register” and a yellow tag is sewn onto their prison uniforms. He also noted that prisoners were threatened with solitary confinement for speaking Belarusian.
VI. Persecution of families of the writers who fled Belarus
On 30 September, it became known that police officers had visited the mother and sister of journalist and writer Andrej Mialeška. In a Facebook post, Mialeška wrote: “Today I learned under which articles they came ‘for my soul’ to my mother’s home. They even asked my sister and mother that I repent, write a statement of repentance to the Commission on Returns, and come back…”
VII. Censorship
On 29 September, it was reported that the play The Grimm Sisters at the Belarusian State Puppet Theatre had been banned and would not be staged. Its premiere, initially scheduled for 13 September, was cancelled at the time under the pretext of “technical reasons”.
VIII. Banned books
1. On 30 September, the Ministry of Information added a further 32 titles to the list of publications deemed to “pose a threat to the national interests of the Republic of Belarus”. The list now comprises a total of 173 books. Among the newly banned works is the anti-war novel The Elephant by Saša Filipienka (Sasha Filipenko). The author publicly supported the 2020 protests and was subsequently forced to leave Belarus. On 14 February 2024, it was revealed that criminal proceedings had been launched against him under Article 130, Part 3 of the Criminal Code (incitement of social hostility and discord).
2. On the same day, the Ministry of Information updated the “National List of Extremist Materials,” adding the website and pages of the project Kamunikat.org, three issues of the magazine Belarus and the World, Timothy Snyder’s book On Freedom, as well as Valancin Akudovič’s works The Code of Absence and We Must Imagine Sisyphus Happy.