Political persecution:
Aleś Čumakoŭ was detained on 8 December 2025. He was held in Pre-Trial Detention Centre No. 1. He was designated as a member of the “extremist formation” «Da Zoraŭ» (a Belarusian cultural initiative). He was also named as a member of Biełaruskaja rada kultury (Belarusian Council of Culture), although he had never had any affiliation with it.
In August 2026, a trial in the criminal case took place. The charges were based on the allegation that Aleś Čumakoŭ “played Belarusian folk music and thereby brought together a core group of protesters.” The case materials referred to “an album of Belarusian folk songs, comprising no fewer than 11 works,” which were even played during the court hearing. Under Article 361-1 of the Criminal Code (participation in an extremist formation), he was sentenced to two years of imprisonment in a general-regime penal colony. After the verdict, he filed an appeal and was awaiting its outcome.
On 16 September 2026, before being transferred to a penal colony, Aleś Čumakoŭ was released under a pardon as a result of negotiations and forcibly relocated to Lithuania.
Creative work:
Since 2002, as a vocalist and instrumentalist with the band «Stary Olsa», he has recorded eight studio albums and three live albums. He works on translations of bard songs. He participated in the project «Sto bardaŭ Svabody»[One Hundred Bards of Freedom]. A website featuring his solo projects and albums: https://gusliby.bandcamp.com/
Translations and music projects:
He translates Irish folk songs into Belarusian. These include «Bard-zmahar» [The Bard-Fighter], «U Rudnickaj puščy» [In the Rudnicka Forest], «Bar biez piva» [A Bar Without Beer], «Skarb» [Treasure], and «Stary i słaŭny čas» [The Old and Glorious Time].
He is a co-author of the Belarusian translation from Latin of the song «U karčmie» [In the Tavern], performed by the band «Stary Olsa».
He translated Uiljam Batler Jejts’s poem «Vierby» [The Willows], which he performs to folk music.
He translates and performs songs by Bułat Akudžava. He performs 48 of Akudžava’s songs in Belarusian accompanied by the gusli, using both his own translations and translations by R. Baradulin, Ł. Barščeŭski, S. Sokałaŭ-Voiuš, M. Ščur, A. Chadanovič, and others.
He is the author of the solo album «Praŭda ŭ vinie» [Truth in Wine] (2019), which includes 14 songs translated by him.