Given the situation in Belarus\u2019s cultural sphere, PEN Belarus recognises cultural figures as defenders of cultural rights. This role is based on their importance to public life and artistic expression. The approach aligns with the UN Special Rapporteur\u2019s\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0(A\/HRC\/43\/50, 2020). Further details on the monitoring methodology are available\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Key findings<\/a> During the first half of 2026, several groups of political prisoners, including cultural figures, were released. On 19 March<\/strong>, <\/strong>250 people<\/strong> were pardoned, among them 22 <\/strong>representatives<\/a> of the cultural field<\/strong> (18 were allowed to remain in Belarus, while four were forcibly expelled). On 28 April<\/strong>, <\/strong>Andrej Pa\u010dobut<\/strong> (Andrzej Poczobut) \u2013 journalist, poet, and member of the Union of Poles in Belarus \u2013 was released after more than five years of sustained efforts by the Polish authorities to secure his freedom.<\/p>\n At the same time, these developments did not lead to any meaningful improvement in the overall human rights situation in Belarus or in the cultural sphere. Repression against cultural figures, representatives of cultural organisations, and other participants in cultural life continued. Censorship, state control over the cultural sector, the misuse of anti-extremism legislation, and persecution for exercising cultural rights both inside and outside the country persisted.<\/p>\n Among the main developments during the second quarter were:<\/p>\n During the reporting period, changes also took place in the leadership of the state cultural sector: former Minister of Information Marat Marka\u016d<\/strong> was appointed Minister of Culture, replacing Rus\u0142an \u010carniecki<\/strong>.<\/p>\n State cultural policy in Belarus continues to be driven by increasing administrative control, the systematic exclusion of independent cultural initiatives, the marginalisation of dissenting voices, opaque decision-making, and ever tighter regulation of professional activity across the cultural sector. During the reporting period, new restrictions were introduced affecting artists, organisers of cultural and entertainment events, tour guides and interpreter-guides, karaoke venues, agritourism businesses, and other cultural service providers.<\/p>\n On 29 June 2026<\/strong>,<\/strong> at the 62nd session of the UN Human Rights Council<\/strong>,<\/strong> the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus<\/strong>, <\/strong>Nils Mui\u017enieks<\/strong>,<\/strong> presented his second report<\/a>. A substantial part of the report is devoted to the situation in the cultural sphere. It notes that repression in Belarus<\/p>\n \u201chas evolved beyond targeting political activists to encompass a systematic restructuring of cultural space, education, language use and historical narratives. Belarusian cultural and national identity and linguistic affiliation are increasingly treated as markers of political opposition<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n During the first half of 2026, at least 36 cultural figures and workers were subjected to arbitrary detention or arrest (one individual was detained twice).<\/p>\n The mass detentions of publishers and writers in February \u2013 March 2026 (documented in the monitoring report<\/a> for the first quarter), as well as the raid on the Parason creative space in Minsk, continue to have long-term consequences for the cultural sector. Translator and publisher Zmicier Ko\u0142as<\/a>, aged 69, remains imprisoned.<\/p>\n On 23 April, officers of the State Security Committee (KGB) carried out searches, interrogations, and detentions in several Belarusian cities targeting individuals associated with socio-cultural organisations and initiatives<\/strong>. Investigators deliberately sought<\/a> evidence of “foreign funding”. Some of those detained remain in custody, while the details of the charges against them are still unknown to human rights defenders.<\/p>\n During the reporting period, the following cultural figures were also detained:<\/p>\n At least<\/strong> 16 cultural figures<\/strong> faced politically motivated criminal prosecution during the first half of 2026, including:<\/p>\n The overwhelming majority of the cultural figures listed below were prosecuted in connection with the Bie\u0142aruski Hajun case for providing information of public interest to the Bie\u0142aruski Hajun <\/a>\u00a0OSINT monitoring project, established by Anton Matolka<\/strong> in January 2022, shortly before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, to track the movement of Russian troops and military equipment across Belarus. Human rights defenders currently have only limited information about these prosecutions:<\/p>\n Andrej Pa\u010dobut (Andrzej Poczobut)<\/em><\/strong>, journalist, poet, and activist of the Union of Poles in Belarus, was detained on 25 March 2021. On 8 February 2023, he was sentenced to eight years in a medium-security penal colony under Articles 130 and 361 of the Criminal Code. The <\/em>charges<\/em><\/a> against him included the alleged “glorification of the Home Army (Armia Krajowa)” and an alleged “attempt to detach part of Belarus in favour of Poland”. Among the evidence used against him were declassified NKVD interrogation records from the 1940s. On 28 April 2026, Pa\u010dobut was <\/em>released<\/em><\/a> as part of an exchange deal between Belarus and Poland. By that time, he had spent five years and one month in Penal Colony No. 1 in Navapo\u0142ack<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n Throughout his imprisonment, he was subjected to a regime of total control and systematic physical and psychological pressure intended to exhaust and break him<\/strong>. This repressive treatment included intolerable living conditions \u2013 constant hunger, cold, the pervasive smell of chlorine, and prison clothing so worn out that he was afraid to wash it too often for fear it would fall apart. Prison staff carried out demonstrative inspections and searches twice a day and systematically fabricated minor disciplinary violations, using trivial everyday matters or insignificant inaccuracies as formal grounds for punishment.<\/p>\n One of the principal methods of pressure used against Pa\u010dobut was repeated placement in a punishment cell \u2013 a cold concrete cell for periods of up to 30 consecutive days. The authorities also sought to break him psychologically and undermine his dignity by forcing him to perform work considered degrading within the prison hierarchy, effectively turning prisoners into social outcasts. Refusal to carry out such humiliating work, or inability to perform physically demanding labour because of poor health, resulted in prolonged confinement in a cell-type punishment facility. During his first nine months in the colony, he spent six months in a cell-type punitive facility and three months in a punishment cell.<\/p>\n The prison authorities reduced the journalist to a state of severe physical exhaustion. He suffered from cardiac arrhythmia and high blood pressure and underwent surgery behind bars. In addition, Pa\u010dobut was deprived of parcels, correspondence with his family, and family visits.<\/p>\n For the final six months of his imprisonment, he was held in complete isolation. “There was no one I could exchange even a single word with, because they realised that I found solitude harder to bear than being surrounded by many people or enduring harsh prison conditions,<\/em>” Pa\u010dobut said in an interview<\/a> with LRT.lt. He was released emaciated and physically exhausted.<\/p>\n In February 2026, former political prisoner, blogger and journalist Ihar \u0141osik reported<\/a> on the deteriorating health of Ja\u016dhien Bur\u0142o<\/strong>, a musician with the band Tor Band, who has been imprisoned for his musical work for three and a half years and is serving his sentence in Penal Colony No. 3 in Viciebsk. Bur\u0142o suffers from osteoporosis in both legs. He has already undergone surgery on his right leg but urgently requires an operation on the left. After months of suffering, he is now able to move only with crutches.<\/p>\n Journalist and writer Siarhiej Sacuk<\/strong>, already imprisoned for more than four and a half years because of his journalistic work, is serving his sentence in Penal Colony No. 15 in Mahilo\u016d, is reportedly<\/a> experiencing serious health problems. According to those close to him, he requires a pacemaker, without which every day is a gamble.<\/p>\n Reports also indicate<\/a> that Vac\u0142a\u016d Are\u0161ka<\/strong>, the 71-year-old cultural scholar, has almost completely lost his eyesight in prison. Already imprisoned for more than four years, he is serving an eight-year sentence in Penal Colony No. 22 in Ivacevi\u010dy.<\/p>\n Catholic priest and local historian Anatol Parachnievi\u010d<\/strong>, detained in March 2026 on unclear charges, remains<\/a> in a serious condition after suffering a heart attack in prison. For many years, he collected and preserved items of Belarusian national cultural heritage and established a small museum at the church in the village of Alkovi\u010dy in the Vilejka district.<\/p>\n Former political prisoners reported<\/a> that artist Ivan Viarbicki<\/strong> has spent more than 1,065 days (almost three years) in a punishment cell or solitary confinement since his arrest on 21 October 2020. In April 2026, he was transferred to Penal Colony No. 9 in Horki and immediately placed in a punishment cell. Viarbicki has already faced criminal prosecution three times under Article 411 of the Criminal Code (Malicious disobedience to the lawful demands of the prison administration), a provision routinely used to artificially prolong prison sentences. Because he has been included on the “terrorist list”, he is barred from receiving financial support from relatives. In practice, he is being held incommunicado: for almost two years, his family has had no contact with him whatsoever.<\/p>\n Ihar Alinievi\u010d<\/strong>, author of prison literature and the first recipient of the Franci\u0161ak Alachnovi\u010d Prize, has now spent six years in prison without family visits, telephone calls, money transfers, medication, or food and clothing parcels. As of the summer of 2026, he remains confined<\/a> in a punishment cell in Penal Colony No. 20.<\/p>\n At the end of May 2026, it became known that businessman and cultural manager Eduard Babaryka<\/strong> had also been transferred<\/a> to a punishment cell. Earlier, in December 2025, his father, former presidential candidate Viktar Babaryka, had been pardoned and deported from Belarus. Eduard Babaryka, however, continues to be held in prison, effectively as a hostage. He has now spent more than six years behind bars.<\/p>\n Journalist and writer Ihar Ilja\u0161<\/strong> is also being held<\/a> in extremely harsh conditions, subjected to targeted pressure, and suffering health problems caused by work in hazardous prison production facilities. He has had no direct contact<\/a> with his wife, former political prisoner Kaciaryna Andrejeva (Bachva\u0142ava), who was released following a pardon on 19 March 2026, for several years. Since Ihar’s arrest in October 2024, the couple have been unable to exchange letters or speak by telephone.<\/p>\n Over time, repressive measures targeting Belarusian cultural figures in political exile have not only continued but have intensified, accounting for an increasingly large share of the violations documented through this monitoring. This trend is also driven by the growing scarcity of information about persecution inside Belarus.<\/p>\n At the end of January 2026, Miko\u0142a Dziadok<\/strong> \u2013 blogger and author of prison literature, who had been pardoned in September 2025 and deported to Lithuania \u2013 learned<\/a> that a new criminal case had been opened against him for allegedly publishing or making “extremist” statements. His parents were summoned for questioning, while state propaganda outlets intensified their smear campaign against him, publishing insults and defamatory attacks.<\/p>\n In February, the parents of writer
\nArbitrary detentions of cultural figures and criminal prosecution<\/a>
\nConditions of detention of cultural figures in places of incarceration<\/a>
\nTransnational repression of cultural figures<\/a>
\nCriminalisation of cultural activity: expansion of the list of \u201cextremist\u201d organisations <\/a>
\nCensorship, banned books, and culture-related materials designated as \u201cextremist\u201d <\/a>
\nState policy in the field of culture: places of memory, language representation, use of force, and legislative changes<\/a>
\nConclusions<\/a><\/p>\nKEY FINDINGS<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Persecution in figures (January \u2013 June 2026):<\/strong><\/h6>\n
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<\/li>\nARBITRARY DETENTIONS OF CULTURAL FIGURES AND CRIMINAL PROSECUTION <\/strong><\/h4>\n
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<\/p>\nCONDITIONS OF DETENTION OF CULTURAL FIGURES IN PLACES OF INCARCERATION<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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\nTRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION OF CULTURAL FIGURES <\/strong><\/h4>\n
CRIMINAL PROSECUTION AND SEARCHES OF RELATIVES\u00a0<\/span> <\/strong><\/h6>\n