As of 15 November 2025, at least 157 cultural figures, including 33 writers, were not free – either imprisoned or in home confinement.
The founder of a music school, Uładzimir Patapienka, was detained.
Photographer Vadzim Zdaraviennaŭ was sentenced to two years in prison.
In Minsk, a Wikipedia editor was sentenced to two years in prison and fined 300 base units (12,600 rubles = 3,695 USD).
The Judicial Board of the Supreme Court rejected the appeal of journalist and writer Ihar Iljaš and upheld the lower court’s decision – four years in a penal colony.
Journalist, translator, and short story author Rusłan Raviaka was sentenced to home confinement.
A German language teacher from Mazyr, Jarasłava Chramčankova, was sentenced to three years in prison.
The eyesight of imprisoned local history enthusiast Uładzimir Hundar has deteriorated behind bars.
Prison literature author Ihar Alinievič was placed in a cell-type facility in Correctional Colony No. 20 in Mazyr.
The social media pages of reenactor Pavieł Stankievič were declared “extremist”.
The TikTok account of poet, performer, reenactor, and TV presenter Kaciaryna Vadanosava was declared “extremist”.
The printed publication Here They Are, and Here We Are: Belarusian Poetry and Poems of Solidarity was declared “extremist”.
At the “Kaladnaja Krama” (Christmas Shop) in Minsk, following a denunciation, Christmas ornaments featuring the portrait of Belarusian poet Łarysa Hienijuš were removed from sale.
In the village of Słabodka, Astraviec district, a monument to the insurgents of 1863 was dismantled.
І. Criminal prosecution of cultural figures, authors, and performers
1. On 7 November, it was reported that the founder of a music school, Uładzimir Patapienka, had been detained several days after returning from Warsaw. His persecution is believed to be connected to the “Biełaruski Hajun” case – an independent monitoring project that tracked the movement of Russian troops and military equipment across Belarus.
2. On 10 November, photographer Vadzim Zdaraviennaŭ was sentenced in Minsk to two years’ imprisonment for a single negative online comment, under Article 368 of the Criminal Code (insulting the president). He had been detained in April 2025.
3. On 13 November, a verdict was handed down in Minsk against a university lecturer and Wikipedia editor. The press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office reported the case without naming the defendant. According to the prosecution, between 2020 and 2025, he “posted 25 textual entries on Wikipedia containing knowingly false information, including about historical facts and state symbols of the Republic of Belarus, presidential elections and national referenda, the activities of state bodies and paramilitary organisations, and the legal status of citizens.” He was found guilty under Article 369-1 of the Criminal Code (discrediting Belarus) and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and a fine of 300 base units (12,600 BYN = 3,695 USD).
4. On 14 November, the Supreme Court considered the appeal of writer and journalist Ihar Iljaš. The judicial panel rejected the appeal and upheld the lower court’s ruling. On 16 September 2025, the Minsk City Court had sentenced Iljaš to four years in a penal colony and a fine of 100 base units (4,200 BYN, approx. 1,382 USD) for giving comments to independent media, under Article 361-4 (facilitating extremist activity) and Article 369-1 (discrediting Belarus). Iljaš, a journalist and philosopher by training, is the co-author of the documentary book Belarusian Donbas (co-written with his wife, Kaciaryna Andrejeva (Bachvałava), who has been imprisoned on politically motivated charges since 2020). The book documents the stories of Belarusians who fought both on the Ukrainian side and alongside Russian occupation forces. In 2021, the book was declared “extremist” in Belarus.
5. On 14 November, it became known that journalist, translator, and short-story author Rusłan Raviaka had been sentenced to restricted liberty in home confinement under Article 361-4(2) (facilitating extremist activity) and added to the “extremists’ list”. The verdict was delivered on 19 August 2025 by the Baranavičy Regional Court. Raviaka was detained in Baranavičy on 5 December 2024 and held in a pre-trial detention centre. Simultaneously, seven employees of the now-liquidated independent newspaper Intex-press (published from 1994 to 2022) were also detained.
6. On 15 November, it was reported that a German-language teacher from Mazyr, Jarasłava Chramčankova, had been sentenced on 9 September 2025 under Article 361-4(1) and (2) (facilitating extremist activity) and Article 369-1 (discrediting Belarus) to three years in a penal colony. Chramčankova was detained on 23 April 2024. Her prosecution is believed to be linked to the “Biełaruski Hajun” case.
ІІ. Conditions in places of incarceration
1. The eyesight of political prisoner and local historian Uładzimir Hundar, who is serving a 20-year sentence, has deteriorated behind bars – he is no longer able to read or write letters properly. Hundar has a leg amputated above the knee and is forced to move around the prison on crutches.
2. Ihar Alinievič, a writer of prison literature serving a 20-year sentence in Correctional Colony No. 20 in Mazyr, has been transferred to a cell-type confinement unit.
III. Persecution for using the Belarusian language in places of incarceration
Journalist, historian, and promoter of the Belarusian language Jaŭhien Mierkis was forced to switch to Russian in the penal colony for his own safety:
“In the Homiel pre-trial detention centre, I had no problems speaking Belarusian. During the first week in quarantine at the penal colony, and even later in the main unit, I continued speaking it. But very soon I realised – and others told me – that it was better not to. There were even cases involving ‘politicals’ who, driven by patriotic feelings, spoke Belarusian with the staff, and for that they were placed on the ‘preventive register’ under category No. 10 as ‘prone to extremist or other destructive activity.’”
IV. Destruction of memorial sites
In the village of Słabodka in the Astraviec district, a monument to the insurgents of the 1863 uprising was dismantled. The memorial – a grey stone sculpture in the shape of a giant sword plunged into the ground – was erected in 2013 to mark the 150th anniversary of the Kalinoŭski Uprising. The cross on the monument bore the insurgent password “Whom do you love?” engraved in both Latin and Cyrillic. At the top of the cross, on the sword’s hilt, was an image of the Pahonia coat of arms.
Pro-Russian activists had long opposed the monument. Now, only a stone-tiled platform remains where the monument once stood.
V. Designation of social media pages of public figures as “extremist”
1. On 3 November, the social media accounts of reenactor Pavieł Stankievič were declared “extremist”. The designation applies to several VKontakte pages — “Rycarski Klub Borysfen”, “Medieval Show-Theatre Borysfen,” “Journey into the Middle Ages – Weekend Tour,” and “Pavel Stankevich” — as well as his Facebook page “Pavieł Stankievič (Pavel Stankevich).”
2. On 11 November, the Leninski District Court of Hrodna designated the TikTok account of poet, performer, reenactor, and TV presenter Kaciaryna Vadanosava as “extremist”. The ban also applies to the username “kasiavadanosava” — “with or without accompanying inscriptions, regardless of the information medium (flags, banners, emblems, patches, badges, stickers, labels, clothing elements, household items, etc.), as well as digital photos and video images (in any events, scenes, episodes, or frames in electronic or print media).”
VI. Repression in the book sector
On 3 November, the printed edition “Here They Are, and Here We Are: Belarusian Poetry and Poems of Solidarity” was declared “extremist”. Earlier, on 4 August 2025, the Ministry of Information had already added this book to the list of “printed publications containing information and/or materials whose distribution may harm the national interests of the Republic of Belarus.”
VII. Ban on cultural initiatives
In Hrodna, the “Vsponić VSe” quiz event has stopped taking place. According to the organisers, the quiz was temporarily suspended due to a denunciation. “A report was filed against us claiming that we did not allow a person with a state flag to enter the quiz and that during our events, the host allegedly spoke negatively about the country, the authorities, and so on. As you all know, no such incidents ever occurred. And then it all snowballed from there. A very indecent tactic… But we will return. Definitely,” the organisers wrote on Instagram.
VIII. Ideological censorship
On 14 November, it became known that the “Kaladnaja Krama” (Christmas Shop) in Minsk removed Christmas ornaments featuring the portrait of poet Łarysa Hienijuš from sale following a denunciation by a pro-Russian propagandist.
Łarysa Hienijuš (1910–1983) was a Belarusian poet and political activist. Arrested in Prague in 1948 and extradited to the BSSR, she was sentenced in February 1949 by the Supreme Court of the BSSR to 25 years in labour camps for “assistance to the international bourgeoisie”. While imprisoned, she wrote poems that circulated among inmates in handwritten form. Prisoners referred to her poems as “glucose” because they gave them the strength to endure. Released in 1956, she lived in Zelva and refused to accept Soviet citizenship until her death.