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As of 15 June 2026, at least 125 cultural figures, including at least 24 writers, were either imprisoned or under home confinement. The number of banned books remained at 357.
Kirył Łojka, a translator of religious hymns into Belarusian and a member of a brass orchestra, was convicted in a politically motivated case.
Special judicial proceedings were initiated against Kaciaryna Mankievič, vocalist of the band Dymna Lotwa.
Vocal coach Sviatłana Karalova was convicted in a politically motivated case.
Mass searches and interrogations were carried out targeting people affiliated with the European Humanities University (EHU).
Relatives have not received any letters from political prisoner and author of prison literature Ihar Alinievič for more than a month.
A court declared the documentary film Daroha na Kurapaty (Road to Kurapaty), produced by the Belarusfilm studio in 1990 and dedicated to Stalinist repressions, “extremist material”.
A court designated the Telegram channels and chats “Come here: Educational Events in Belarus and Beyond” and “Biełaruski Instytut Navuki j Mastactva – BINiM (Belarusian Institute of Science and Art)” as “extremist materials”.
The Facebook pages of the Free Belarus Museum and Historyja Biełarusi (History of Belarus) were added to the list of “extremist materials”.
I. Criminal prosecution of cultural figures, authors, and performers
1. On 6 June, it became known that Kirył Łojka, a translator of religious hymns into Belarusian and a member of the ChurchBrass wind orchestra, had been convicted in a politically motivated case. The Minsk City Court sentenced him under Article 361-4 of the Criminal Code (facilitating extremist activity) to restricted freedom in home confinement.
2. On 8 June, it became known that Kaciaryna Mankievič, vocalist of the band Dymna Lotwa, had been placed under special proceedings to be tried in absentia, as she is outside Belarus. She is charged under Article 289-1(1) of the Criminal Code (propaganda of terrorism), Article 290-1(1) (financing terrorist activity), Article 361-4(1) and (2) (facilitating extremist activity), Article 366-1 (violence against or threats against Lukashenka), and Article 368(1) (insulting the president).
3. On 15 June, it became known that vocalist and vocal coach at the music studio Art-kvartał, Sviatłana Karalova, had been convicted in 2026 under Article 361-4(1) and (2) of the Criminal Code (facilitating extremist activity). The Minsk Regional Court sentenced her to home confinement. Karalova was a member of an art-folk band and performed at the Kupalle celebrations in Minsk in 2023 and at a Victory Day concert at the Palace of the Republic on 9 May 2024.
II. Persecution of persons affiliated with the European Humanities University
Between 1 and 4 June, mass searches and interrogations of people affiliated with the European Humanities University (EHU) took place in Belarus. The raids were conducted in connection with criminal investigations related to “facilitating extremist activity” and “financing extremist activity”. As of 15 June, human rights defenders were aware of more than 60 searches.
To pressure EHU students to return from Lithuania, the KGB reportedly threatened their parents with criminal prosecution. On 14 April 2026, the Supreme Court, following a request from the Prosecutor General’s Office, designated EHU an “extremist organisation”. In August 2025, EHU’s social media accounts had already been declared “extremist materials”.
According to the prosecution, the university “conducts targeted activities aimed at destabilising the socio-political situation in the country” and is “used by the intelligence services of certain neighbouring states to harm Belarusian interests in the political, humanitarian, and information spheres.” EHU was founded as a private university in Minsk in 1992, closed by the authorities in 2002, and resumed operations in Lithuania in 2004.
III. Conditions in places of incarceration
For more than a month, relatives have received no letters from political prisoner and author of prison literature Ihar Alinievič. For the sixth consecutive year, he has been held without visits, telephone calls, money transfers, medicines, food parcels, or, more recently, packages containing personal items.
In 2013, Alinievič received the main award for the best work written in prison and became the first laureate of the Francišak Alachnovič Award, established by Radio Svaboda and PEN Belarus. His prison diary I Am Going to Magadan (Jedu ŭ Mahadan) was published in 2013 while he was serving a politically motivated sentence in the so-called “anarchists’ case”. The book has been translated into Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian, English, German, Spanish, Czech, French, Polish, and Greek.
IV. Designation of cinematic works as “extremist”
On 11 June, the Leninski District Court of Hrodna declared the film Daroha na Kurapaty (Road to Kurapaty), produced by the Belarusfilm studio in 1990, “extremist material”. According to the Belarusian Ministry of Information, the film had been distributed via the YouTube channel Sergei. Two other videos from the same channel were also added to the extremism list: Belarusian Resistance for a Free State! and Stalin Line.
The film was directed by Michaił Ždanoŭski, who co-wrote the script with Alaksandr Łukašuk. Zianon Pazniak participated in its creation. For the documentary series Daroha na Kurapaty, Žauruki Biełarusi, and Memories of Mikałaj Ravenski, Ždanoŭski received the State Prize of the Republic of Belarus.
Daroha na Kurapaty is a documentary testimony to the crimes committed by the Bolshevik regime against the Belarusian people and neighbouring nations.
V. Designation of cultural figures’ social media as “extremist”
On 10 June, the Belarusian Ministry of Information added for the second time the Threads account of journalist, cultural blogger, and author of poems and songs Valer Rusielik (creator of the YouTube channel Daroha) to its list of extremist materials. The content of the account had already been declared extremist by a ruling of the Minsk District Court of Minsk Region on 17 April 2026.
VI. Designation of cultural projects’ social media as “extremist”
1. On 2 June, the Čyhunačny District Court of Homieĺ declared the Telegram channels and chats Come here: Educational Events in Belarus and Beyond and Biełaruski Instytut Navuki j Mastactva (BINiM) to be “extremist materials”.
2. On 4 June, the Facebook pages of the Free Belarus Museum and Historyja Biełarusi (History of Belarus) were added to the list of extremist materials.