Alena Cieraškova is a writer, poet, translator, doctor, mother of four children, sister of political prisoner Maksim Viniarski, and a two-time champion of Belarus in taekwondo.
She is the author of the books Will I Stand to My Full Height? (2005), Riddle Poems (2012), English: Word-for-Word (2015), and a novel for teenagers, After Summer Comes Winter.
The novel is dedicated to all teenagers traumatised by the year 2020, the children who experienced the disappearance of their parents, the pressure at schools and universities, the horror of violent detentions and the sounds of shots fired on peaceful streets.
In May 2024, Alena Cieraškova was detained in connection with a politically motivated criminal case in Minsk.
The trial of Cieraškova will take place in the Minsk Central Court Minsk on 19 June 2024. She is charged with organising, preparing or actively participating in actions that grossly violate public order under Article 342 of the Criminal Code.
Until the trial, Alena Cieraškova was kept in the pre-trial detention center in Kaladzičy near Minsk.
On June 20, the court of the Central District of Minsk issued a a verdict according to Part 1 of Art. 342 of the Criminal Code (active participation in actions that grossly violate public order) – restriction of liberty without referral to an open-type correctional facility for a period of 3 years (“home confinement”).
Author’s works: