{"id":21610,"date":"2026-02-02T16:26:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T16:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/?p=21610"},"modified":"2026-02-17T16:31:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T16:31:57","slug":"hronika-parushennyau-pravou-chalaveka-u-sfery-kultury-15-31-studzenya-2026-goda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/2026\/02\/02\/hronika-parushennyau-pravou-chalaveka-u-sfery-kultury-15-31-studzenya-2026-goda.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronicle of human rights violations in the sphere of culture (15-31 January 2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"

To report a violation (including confidentially) or to correct data presented in the report, please contact us at dapamoha@penbelarus.org or t.me\/viadoma.<\/em><\/p>\n

As of 31 January 2026, at least 146 cultural figures, including not less than 31 writers, were not free, either imprisoned or in home confinement.<\/b><\/p>\n

Dzmitry Caruk<\/b>, director of the Fajno Design studio, was convicted in a politically motivated criminal case.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Minsk City Court sentenced musician and event organiser <\/span>Ivan Falitar<\/b> under Article 361-4 of the Criminal Code (facilitating extremist activity).<\/span><\/p>\n

A new politically motivated criminal case was initiated against <\/span>Miko\u0142a Dziadok<\/b>, an author of prison literature and a former political prisoner.<\/span><\/p>\n

In penal colony No. 17 in \u0160k\u0142o\u016d, prison authorities confiscated a manuscript of an essay on <\/span>Vasil Byka\u016d<\/b> from <\/span>U\u0142adzimir \u0141abkovi\u010d<\/b>, a human rights defender and former political prisoner.<\/span><\/p>\n

The website of the <\/span>Northern Lights Film Festival<\/b> was designated as \u201cextremist\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

The song <\/span>\u201cI Shot at a Policeman\u201d<\/i><\/b> by the band <\/span>Krambambula<\/b> was declared \u201cextremist\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Prosecutor\u2019s Office prohibited the distribution of <\/span>Dorota Michaluk\u2019s<\/b> book <\/span>The Belarusian People\u2019s Republic, 1918\u20131929: At the Origins of Belarusian Statehood<\/i><\/b> (2015).<\/span><\/p>\n

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

<\/b>1.<\/strong> On 16 January, it became known that <\/span>Dzmitry Caruk<\/b>, director of the Brest-based design studio <\/span>Fajno Design<\/span><\/i>, had been convicted in a politically motivated criminal case. The Brest Regional Court sentenced Dzmitry Caruk under Parts 1 and 2 of Article 361-4 of the Criminal Code (facilitating extremist activity). The verdict has already entered into legal force. Dzmitry Caruk was detained in July 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/b>2.<\/strong> On 24 January, it was reported that <\/span>Ivan Falitar<\/b>, a musician and event organiser, had been convicted by the Minsk City Court under Article 361-4 of the Criminal Code (facilitating extremist activity). The case is reportedly linked to the so-called <\/span>\u201cBelarusian Hajun\u201d<\/span><\/i> case and concerns messages posted in a monitoring chat about the movement of Russian military equipment across the territory of Belarus. The sentence \u2013 three years\u2019 imprisonment in a penal colony \u2013 was handed down on 17 October 2025. Since 16 January 2026, Ivan Falitar has been serving his sentence in Penal Colony No. 2 in Babrujsk.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/b>3.<\/strong> On 29 January, it became known that a new politically motivated criminal case had been initiated against <\/span>Miko\u0142a Dziadok<\/b>, an author of prison literature and a former political prisoner. Miko\u0142a Dziadok reported this himself on <\/span>Threads<\/span><\/i>, writing: \u201cMy relatives were informed that a new criminal case has been opened against me, allegedly for \u2018extremist\u2019 publications or statements. For some reason, the case is being handled in Viciebsk. My parents were summoned for interrogations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

II. Conditions in places of incarceration<\/b><\/h5>\n

Political prisoner and cultural studies scholar <\/span>Vac\u0142a\u016d Are\u0161ka <\/b>has almost completely lost his eyesight while in prison. He previously relied on a magnifying glass with backlighting to read; however, after his transfer from the \u0160k\u0142o\u016d<\/span> penal colony to Ivacevi\u010dy, he was no longer permitted to keep the magnifying device.<\/span><\/p>\n

III. Confiscation of manuscripts from political prisoners\u00a0<\/b><\/h5>\n

It became known that, in Penal Colony No. 17 in \u0160k\u0142o\u016d, prison authorities confiscated a manuscript of an essay on <\/span>Vasil Byka\u016d<\/b> from <\/span>U\u0142adzimir \u0141abkovi\u010d<\/b>, a human rights defender and former political prisoner. In the essay, U\u0142adzimir \u0141abkovi\u010d reflected on the significance of Vasil Byka\u016d\u2019s works and personality in his own life and described in detail the writer\u2019s funeral, attended by thousands of Belarusians. The manuscript was seized during a search of his cell.<\/span><\/p>\n

IV. Designation of cultural initiatives and organisations\u2019 social media as \u201cextremist\u201d<\/b><\/h5>\n

<\/b>1.<\/strong> On 21 January, it became known that the Baranavi\u010dy City and District Court designated the website of the human rights campaign <\/span>\u201cNO to the Death Penalty in Belarus\u201d<\/i><\/b> as \u201cextremist\u201d. The website contains statements by cultural figures opposing the death penalty.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/b>2.<\/strong> On 21 January, the website of the <\/span>Northern Lights Film Festival<\/b> was declared \u201cextremist\u201d. The website provided information for Belarusian audiences about films from Northern Europe and the Baltic states. The festival was founded in 2015 by the Embassy of Finland in Belarus. Since 2021, the festival has been held outside Belarus.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/b>3.<\/strong> On 26 January, the Partyzanski District Court of Minsk designated as \u201cextremist\u201d several Threads<\/span> accounts focused on cultural topics, including: <\/span>SYMBAL.BY<\/i><\/b>, <\/b>REFORM.news<\/i><\/b>, <\/b>Radio Svaboda | Belarus<\/i><\/b>, <\/b>Novy Chas<\/i><\/b>, <\/b>Nasha Niva<\/i><\/b>, <\/b>MOST | Poland | Belarus<\/i><\/b>, <\/b>Budzma Belarusiami!<\/i><\/b>, and <\/b>CityDog.io<\/i><\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

V. Designation of literary and musical works as \u201cextremist\u201d<\/b><\/h5>\n

On 23 January, the Lel\u010dycy District Court designated the song <\/span>\u201cI Shot at a Policeman\u201d<\/i><\/b> by the band <\/span>Krambambula<\/b> as \u201cextremist\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

VI. Banned books<\/b><\/h5>\n

On 20 January, it became known that the Horki District Prosecutor\u2019s Office had prohibited the distribution of the book <\/span>The Belarusian People\u2019s Republic, 1918\u20131929: At the Origins of Belarusian Statehood<\/i><\/b> (2015) by <\/span>Dorota Michaluk<\/b>. Prosecutors reportedly discovered the book online and referred it to the National Commission for the Evaluation of Symbols, Attributes, and Information Products. According to the commission\u2019s conclusion, \u201ccertain fragments of the printed publication submitted for evaluation contradict the provisions of Presidential Directive No. 12 of 9 April 2025 \u2018On the Implementation of the Foundations of the Ideology of the Belarusian State\u2019 and may harm the national interests of the country\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

VII. Prohibition of books in places of incarceration<\/b><\/h5>\n

From 1 January, Penal Colony No. 11 in Va\u016dkavysk <\/span>introduced a ban on the receipt of books<\/b> from outside the prison. Previously, relatives were allowed to send up to five books to prisoners in this colony in a parcel weighing up to two kilograms. Under the new rules, parcels containing books are returned to the senders by the prison administration.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To report a violation (including confidentially) or to correct data presented in the report, please contact us at dapamoha@penbelarus.org or t.me\/viadoma. As of 31 January 2026, at least 146 cultural figures, including not less than 31 writers, were not free, either imprisoned or in home confinement. Dzmitry Caruk, director of the Fajno Design studio, was<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":117,"featured_media":21631,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4255],"tags":[4291,4285],"class_list":["post-21610","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\/21610","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=21610"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21643,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21610\/revisions\/21643"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}