{"id":16656,"date":"2024-08-21T12:56:51","date_gmt":"2024-08-21T12:56:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/?p=16656"},"modified":"2024-09-03T16:36:51","modified_gmt":"2024-09-03T16:36:51","slug":"hronika-parushennyau-pravou-chalaveka-u-sfery-kultury-1-15-zhniunya-2024-goda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/2024\/08\/21\/hronika-parushennyau-pravou-chalaveka-u-sfery-kultury-1-15-zhniunya-2024-goda.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronicle of human rights violations in the sphere of culture (1-15 August 2024)"},"content":{"rendered":"

As of\u00a015 August\u00a02024, at least 165\u00a0cultural figures, including not less than 38\u00a0People of the Word, were behind bars.<\/strong><\/p>\n

PaRAnoia Dolls <\/strong>band drummer Dzmitry \u0160a<\/strong>\u0142<\/strong>ak <\/strong>was sentenced to three and a half years in prison and a fine.<\/p>\n

Journalist and writer Ale\u015b Kirkievi\u010d <\/strong>was sentenced to seven years in prison, a fine and confiscation of property.<\/p>\n

Authorities opened “special proceedings” in the criminal case against artist Vijaleta Maj\u0161uk<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Anarchist movement activist and writer Miko\u0142a Dziadok<\/strong> has spent more than one year in solitary confinement.<\/p>\n

The music video after Alaksandr Bal’s<\/strong> poem Trouble in My Homeland<\/em> was labelled “extremist.”<\/p>\n

\n
\u0406. Criminal prosecution of cultural figures, authors and performers<\/strong><\/h5>\n

1.<\/strong> On 2 August, the Hrodna Regional Court sentenced in absentia the journalist and writer Ale\u015b Kirkievi\u010d<\/strong> to seven years in a penal colony, a fine of 24,000 rubles (~ $7,310) and confiscation of property under Part 1 and 2 of Article 361.4 of the Criminal Code (facilitating extremist activities). Ale\u015b Kirkievi\u010d was repeatedly subjected to criminal and administrative prosecution. Special proceedings (the trial in absentia) began on 29 March 2024, when he had already been outside the borders of Belarus. Ale\u015b Kirkievi\u010d is the author of the book of short stories Samurai<\/em> (2018). In 2018, he became a laureate of the Franci\u0161ak Alachnovi\u010d Literary Award, founded by Radio Svaboda (Belarusian Service of Radio Liberty) and the Belarusian PEN Center and given for the best work written in prison.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> On 8 August, the Navapolack City Court sentenced Dzmitry \u0160a<\/strong>\u0142<\/strong>ak<\/strong>, an employee of the Naftan oil refinery, drummer of the PaRAnoia Dolls<\/strong> band, to three and a half years in a minimum-security penal colony and a fine of 200 base rates, or 8,000 rubles (~ $2450). He was convicted under Article 368 (insulting the president) and Article 369 (insulting a representative of power) of the Criminal Code.<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> On 13 August, the special proceedings (the trial in absentia) began in the criminal case against artist Vijaleta Maj\u0161uk<\/strong>. She is charged with creating an “extremist formation” under Article 361.1 of the Criminal Code.<\/p>\n

II. Administrative prosecution<\/strong><\/h5>\n

On 5 August, \u0141<\/strong>arysa Maciu\u0161e\u016bskaja<\/strong>, a teacher from Kochanava, local historian, and school museum director, appeared in the Talo\u010dyn District Court in an administrative trial under Part 2 of Article 19.11 of the Code of Administrative Offences (distribution of information products included in the list of extremist materials). In modern Belarus, this means a subscription to independent media outlets.<\/p>\n

III. Dismissals of cultural figures over their civic stance<\/strong><\/h5>\n

1.<\/strong> On 7 August, it became known that Sviatlana Karukina<\/strong>, the National Theatre of Belarusian Drama director, was fired.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> On 9 August, it became known that the director of the Homiel Puppet Theatre, Dzmitry Harelik,<\/strong> was fired. In January 2024, he stood an administrative trial under Part 2 of Article 19.11 of the Code of Administrative Offences (distribution of information products included in the list of extremist materials). In modern Belarus, this means a subscription to independent media outlets. Dzmitry Harelik managed the Homiel Puppet Theatre from 1 June 1992.<\/p>\n

IV. Conditions in places of confinement <\/strong><\/h5>\n

An activist of the anarchist movement, writer Miko<\/strong>\u0142<\/strong>a Dziadok<\/strong> has been in solitary confinement for more than a year. He is the author of the book Colours of the Parallel World<\/em> (2017), which is dedicated to the analysis of the Belarusian prison system and the methods used by the administration to break prisoners’ will. The book is based on the author’s experience during the first politically motivated imprisonment, in 2010-2015. In 2017, Miko\u0142a Dziadok became a laureate of the Franci\u0161ak Alachnovi\u010d Literary Award, founded by Radio Svaboda (Belarusian Service of Radio Liberty) and the Belarusian PEN Centre and given for the best work written in prison. On 10 November 2021, the Minsk City Court sentenced Miko\u0142a Dziadok to five years in a penal colony under Article 342, Article 361, Article 295.3 of the Criminal Code.<\/p>\n

V. Censorship and persecution for works of art <\/strong><\/h5>\n

On 6 August, Mahilio\u016b’s Leninski District Court labelled the music video after Alaksandr Bal’s<\/strong> poem Trouble in My Homeland<\/em> “extremist.” Alaksandr Bal is a poet, bard, and author of music for performances and was in charge of music at the Mahilio\u016b Regional Drama Theatre. He was dismissed for political reasons, sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest, and fled Belarus due to persecution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As of\u00a015 August\u00a02024, at least 165\u00a0cultural figures, including not less than 38\u00a0People of the Word, were behind bars. PaRAnoia Dolls band drummer Dzmitry \u0160a\u0142ak was sentenced to three and a half years in prison and a fine. Journalist and writer Ale\u015b Kirkievi\u010d was sentenced to seven years in prison, a fine and confiscation of property.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":16707,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4255],"tags":[4291,4285],"class_list":["post-16656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cultural-right","tag-chronicle","tag-hronika"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16656"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16709,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16656\/revisions\/16709"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}