As of 30 November 2025, at least 161 cultural figures, including 34 writers, were not free – either imprisoned or in home confinement.
Following the completion of his administrative detention, Pavieł Stankievič, head of the “Borysthenes” knightly club, was not released.
A piano teacher from Viciebsk, Tacciana Łukjanava, was convicted under Parts 1 and 2 of Article 361-4 of the Criminal Code.
An English teacher, Alaksandra Dubroŭskaja, received a prison sentence for “creating an extremist formation”.
Police searched the flat of the parents of journalist Iryna Сhalip. Her father, Uładzimir Chalip, is a well-known screenwriter and art historian.
The books The Elephant and The Red Cross by Saša Filipienka (Sasha Filipenko) were declared “extremist”.
Authorities banned an exhibition by the artist Siarhiej Rymašeŭski, entitled Cardiogram, in Minsk.
The website kirma.sh, offering Belarusian books and souvenirs, was blocked by order of the prosecutor.
Radio Plato’s social media pages were designated as “extremist”.
A court ruled that the Instagram account of the independent Belarusian publishing house rozum.media was “extremist”.
A souvenir “Christmas Shop” selling festive baubles featuring portraits of writers was closed as part of an ongoing investigation.
The independent creative space “Monochrome” closed in Minsk.
І. Criminal prosecution of cultural figures, authors, and performers
1. On 28 November, after completing his term of administrative detention, Pavieł Stankievič, head of the “Borysthenes” knightly club from Mahilioŭ, was not released. He had been detained on 3 November and sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest. Two other individuals connected with “Borysthenes” were also detained, though no details about them have been made public.
2. On 29 November, it was reported that a piano teacher from Viciebsk, Tacciana Łukjanava, had been sentenced to home confinement under Parts 1 and 2 of Article 361-4 of the Criminal Code (facilitating extremist activity), reportedly in connection with the “Biełaruski Hajun” case – a chat group for sharing information about the movement of Russian military equipment through Belarus. Tacciana has over 20 years of experience as an accompanist.
3. On 30 November, it was reported that the Mahiloŭ Regional Court, in a criminal case against members of the neighbourhood chat groups, had sentenced English teacher Alaksandra Dubroŭskaja to a term in a penal colony under Part 3 of Article 361¹ of the Criminal Code (creating an extremist formation). She had been arrested at the end of 2024.
ІІ. Persecution of the families of Belarusians forced into exile
On 27 November, police searched the Minsk flat of journalist Iryna Chalip’s parents. Iryna’s father, Uładzimir Chalip, is a well-known screenwriter and art historian. The Belarusian Prosecutor’s Office is conducting a criminal case against Iryna Chalip, who currently lives outside Belarus. Police officers presented a warrant stating that the search was being conducted as part of a criminal case under an “extremism”-related article. They questioned Iryna’s mother, Lucyna Bialzackaja, attempting to establish Iryna’s current whereabouts.
III. Censorship
On 24 November, an exhibition by the artist Siarhiej Rymašeŭski, entitled Cardiogram, was banned in Minsk. The exhibition had been scheduled to run from 25 November to 13 December at the “Mastactva” gallery of the Artists’ Union on Independence Avenue.
IV. Designation of cultural social media accounts as “extremist”
On 19 November, Minsk’s Partyzanski District Court declared the pages of Radio Plato “extremist”, including its Telegram, Instagram and VKontakte accounts, as well as the project’s website. Radio Plato is an independent internet radio station based in Minsk. Its project description states: “We write about the local music scene, host programmes and publish podcasts. This is what we do to strengthen the community and popularise it around the world.”
On 20 November, Radio Plato was designated an “extremist formation”.
V. Repression in the book sector
1. On 17 November, it was reported that Saša Filipienka’s (Sasha Filipenko’s) books The Elephant and The Red Cross (Kraków: Gutenberg Publisher, 2025) had been declared “extremist”, according to the 13 November ruling of Minsk’s Kastryčnicki District Court. In September, authorities added these books to the list of publications banned for distribution in Belarus.
2. On 18 November 2025, the Lida District Court ruled that the Instagram account of the independent Belarusian publisher rozum.media was “extremist”.
3. On 20 November, the kirma.sh website, selling Belarusian books and souvenirs, was blocked by order of the Prosecutor of the Mahiloŭ Region. It was reported that the site had made available for purchase materials designated as “extremist”, including the book Fatherland: A Picturesque History, the popular-science publication Bitter Years: The Tragedy of Western Belarus 1944–1954, and Hidden Heritage: Tales of Belarusian Women, published by the ByProsvet initiative, which itself had previously been declared an “extremist formation”.
VI. Prohibition of cultural initiatives
On 30 November, the independent creative space Monochrome in Minsk was closed. In a message to their audience, the venue’s founders stated: “Unfortunately, circumstances have proved stronger than us, and we are forced to put an end to this story.” Monochrome was the base of the Cinemascope initiative, led by film enthusiasts Volha Nadolskaja and Hiera Hlik. The space regularly hosted screenings, retrospectives of world cinema classics, themed programmes, classical music concerts, presentations, and discussions.
VII. Ideological censorship
On 15 November, the premises of Kaladnaja Krama (Christmas Shop), a souvenir shop in Minsk which sold Christmas baubles featuring writers, were closed as part of a criminal investigation. Following a complaint by a pro-Russian propagandist, the shop removed from sale the Christmas baubles depicting the Belarusian poet and political figure Łarysa Hienijuš.
Łarysa Hienijuš (1910–1983) was arrested in Prague in 1948 and extradited to the BSSR. In February 1949, the Supreme Court of the BSSR sentenced her to 25 years in labour camps for “assistance to the international bourgeoisie”. While imprisoned, she wrote poems that circulated in manuscript form among prisoners. The prisoners called the poems “glucose” because they gave them the strength to live. She was released in 1956 and resided in Zelva. Until the end of her life, she refused to accept Soviet citizenship.
“The rehabilitation of Łarysa Hienijuš has been proposed repeatedly, but the Supreme Court has ruled that there are no grounds for her rehabilitation,” the Prosecutor’s Office stated in November 2015.