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Persecution, Convictions, Censorship, Cultural Policy<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n The Supreme Court of Belarus has decided to liquidate the <\/span>Francysk Skaryna Belarusian Language Society<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n Prisoners in the detention centers were restricted in their subscription to newspapers and magazines<\/b>: now their relatives and friends cannot subscribe them to any printed media, it can be done exclusively by the pre-trial detention center staff at the expense of the prisoners’ personal accounts.<\/span><\/p>\n Miko\u0142a Dziadok<\/b>, a politically imprisoned blogger and author of the book <\/span>Paints of the Parallel Universe<\/span><\/i>, detained on November 11, 2020, <\/span>received 5 years in a penal colony<\/b> “for participating in riots”, “for storing fuels” and “for distributing materials on the Internet.” <\/span><\/p>\n Fiodar \u010caranko\u016d<\/b>, vocalist of the<\/span> Nia Varta<\/span><\/i> band <\/span>was detained<\/b>, his house was searched and police confiscated computers. The reason for the detention is believed to be his subscription to an Instagram account, which was recognised as \u201cextremist\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n Life of the Imprisoned People<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Ihar Bancer<\/b>, a political prisoner and musician, received a translation of the Liverpool anthem\u00a0 into the Belarusian language made by<\/span> Andrej Alaksandra\u016d<\/b>, a political prisoner, journalist and poet. Later it also became known that <\/span>Ihar <\/b>was given another 10 days in punitive confinement. <\/span><\/p>\n U\u0142adzimir Mackievi\u010d<\/b>, a political prisoner, philosopher, methodologist, educator and a member of PEN Belarus, who is accused of “organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order,” has been in jail for over 100 days. His texts are studied for the presence of hostility in them. <\/span>Mackievi\u010d <\/b>himself is convinced that he was arrested for criticizing the \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s regime. In prison he gives lectures to his cellmates and writes a book. To support <\/span>U\u0142adzimir<\/b>, his colleagues have launched a <\/span>Philosopher in prison <\/span><\/i>civil campaign and publish news about him, as well as his texts and ideas. His colleague <\/span>Ta\u0107ciana Vada\u0142a\u017eskaja<\/b> shared, <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHe is alright given the circumstances. He misses air and space for walks and reflections. Now he seeks to devote all of his free time to work on philosophical, reflective texts. He keeps thinking about what and how should be done to get through the political crisis.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n November 12 marked <\/span>a year since the detention of student activists<\/b>. 12 participants of the “student case” were sentenced to 2 to 2.5 years in prison for “organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them.” Among them are <\/span>Kasia Bud\u017ako, Maryja Kalenik<\/b> (artists) and <\/span>Ksienija Syrama\u0142ot <\/b>(poet). <\/span><\/p>\n Pavie\u0142 Sieviaryniec<\/b>, a politically imprisoned politician and writer, <\/span>continues to work on new novels behind bars<\/b>: they are <\/span>Belarusalim<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Tree of Life<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Jesus Christ speaks Belarusian<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n It has become known that <\/span>Maryja Kale\u015bnikava<\/b>, a politically imprisoned musician and activist, <\/span>has been kept in solitary confinement for almost eight months<\/b>. She sees this not only as pressure on her, but also a violation of her rights. According to the law, solitary confinement is a form of punishment.<\/span><\/p>\n Alaksandr Fiaduta<\/b>, Doctor of Philology, writer, editor, translator, literary critic, publisher and member of PEN Belarus, <\/span>organized a “prison university” for his cellmates<\/b>. They read classics, listen to <\/span>Alaksandr\u2019s <\/b>lectures and discuss what they read together.<\/span><\/p>\n Dissent and Cultural Activism <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n An <\/span>online discussion<\/b> on the topic <\/span>Path to Non-Freedom<\/span><\/i> of <\/span>the Intellectual Club of Sviat\u0142ana Aleksijevi\u010d<\/b>, a Belarusian Nobel Prize laureate in literature and the chairperson of PEN Belarus, was held.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1.-dzyadok-340x240.jpg\")
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