As of 31 August 2025, at least 160 cultural figures, including 41 writers, were not free \u2013 either imprisoned or in home confinement.<\/b><\/p>\n
Belarusian Wikipedia editor <\/span>Maksim Lepu\u0161enka<\/b> was sentenced to two and a half years of restricted freedom in home confinement.<\/span><\/p>\n Jahor Bu\u017ey\u0142a\u016d, <\/b>production director of the jewellery brand <\/span>Belaruskicry<\/span><\/i>, was detained as part of a criminal case.<\/span><\/p>\n Actress and model <\/span>Kaciaryna Javid<\/b> was sentenced to home confinement.<\/span><\/p>\n The website of the <\/span>European Humanities University<\/b> (ehu.lt) and the university\u2019s several social media channels were designated as \u201cextremist\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n A plaque with inscriptions in Polish and Belarusian disappeared from the wall of a Catholic church in <\/span>Bras\u0142a\u016d<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/b>1.<\/strong> On 19 August, it emerged that Minsk\u2019s Central District Court had sentenced Belarusian Wikipedia editor and author <\/span>Maksim<\/b> Lepu\u0161enka<\/b> to two and a half years in home confinement. Lepu\u0161enka, known for his contributions on history, culture, literature and contemporary Belarusian authors, was detained on 5 May 2025 and held in pre-trial detention centre No. 1. He was charged under Article 342 of the Criminal Code (organisation and preparation of actions grossly violating public order, or active participation in them) for taking part in the peaceful protests of 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/b>2.<\/strong> On 22 August, musician <\/span>Michai\u0142 Stocik<\/b> was added to the official list of \u201ccitizens of Belarus, foreign citizens and stateless persons involved in extremist activities\u201d. Earlier, the Dok\u0161ycy District Court in the Viciebsk region convicted him under Article 342, Part 1, of the Criminal Code. He is believed to have been sentenced in mid-2025 to home confinement. Stocik, who once ran a recording studio in Minsk, is also thought to have played in the Minsk-based band <\/span>ProSSpekt<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/b>3.<\/strong> On 27 August, reports emerged that <\/span>Jahor Bu\u017ey\u0142a\u016d<\/b>, production director of the jewellery brand <\/span>Belaruskicry<\/span><\/i>, had been detained after returning to Belarus. Just weeks earlier, on 26 July, the KGB labelled <\/span>Belaruskicry<\/span><\/i> an \u201cextremist formation\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/b>4.<\/strong> On 30 August, it was reported that Minsk\u2019s Central District Court had sentenced actress and model <\/span>Kaciaryna Javid<\/b> to house confinement. She was convicted under Article 342 of the Criminal Code in connection with the 2020 peaceful protests. Javid has appeared in twelve films and television series.<\/span><\/p>\n On 18 August, the Homiel District Prosecutor\u2019s Office, during its monitoring, identified two songs by a Russian performer written in 2020 which, in the prosecutors\u2019 view, \u201ccontain insults against the President of the Republic of Belarus, deliberately false information about the social and political situation in the country, and calls for the violent overthrow of the constitutional order\u201d. Following the prosecutor\u2019s submission, the Homiel District Court declared the musical compositions \u201cextremist materials\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n On 22 August, it was reported that the website of the European Humanities University (ehu.lt) and the university\u2019s several social media platforms were designated as \u201cextremist\u201d.<\/span> On 23 August, participants of a pilgrimage noticed that a granite plaque had disappeared from the wall of the Catholic church in Bras\u0142a\u016d. The plaque, inscribed in Polish and Belarusian, read: <\/span>\u201cIn memory of the Poles who gave their work, struggle and lives to the land of Bras\u0142a\u016d and the Polish\u2013Lithuanian Commonwealth\u201d.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n The plaque had been brought from Poland in 2009 and installed by members of the National Association of Bras\u0142a\u016dians in Poland (<\/span>Krajowe Stowarzyszenie Bras\u0142awian<\/span><\/i>), which is comprised of natives of the Bras\u0142a\u016d region and their descendants.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As of 31 August 2025, at least 160 cultural figures, including 41 writers, were not free \u2013 either imprisoned or in home confinement. Belarusian Wikipedia editor Maksim Lepu\u0161enka was sentenced to two and a half years of restricted freedom in home confinement. Jahor Bu\u017ey\u0142a\u016d, production director of the jewellery brand Belaruskicry, was detained as part<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":117,"featured_media":20207,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4255],"tags":[4291,4285],"class_list":["post-20201","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\/20201","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\/117"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20201"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20209,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20201\/revisions\/20209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nI. Criminal prosecution of cultural figures, authors, and performers<\/b><\/h5>\n
II. Repression in the music field\u00a0<\/b><\/h5>\n
III. Designation of cultural and educational institutions as \u201cextremist\u201d<\/b><\/h5>\n
\n<\/span>According to a ruling by the Central District Court of Minsk, the following platforms were included: the website ehu.lt; the Instagram account @Ehuofficial; the Facebook account @Ehuofficial; the university\u2019s LinkedIn page; and the YouTube channel @EHUCampaigner.<\/span><\/p>\n IV. Destruction of memorial sites<\/b><\/h5>\n