As of 30 June 2024, at least 164 cultural figures, including not less than 39 People of the Word, were behind bars.
Writer and doctor Alena Cieraškova was sentenced to three years of restricted freedom in home confinement under Part 1 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code.
Ceramic artist Alena Karpienka received one and a half years in a minimum-security penal colony.
Political prisoner, activist, and author of prison literature Aliaksandr Franckievič is on trial under Article 411 of the Criminal Code (malicious disobedience to the penal colony’s administration).
A court in Brest convicted in absentia the members of the Rudabelskaja Pakazucha satirical project: composer, songwriter, and blogger Andrej Pavuk, blogger Volha Pavuk, opera singer Marharyta Liaŭčuk, rock musician and Gods Tower frontman Uładzisłaŭ Navažyłaŭ (Lesley Knife), blogger Illja Saliankoŭ, and blogger and producer Alaksandr Čachoŭski.
Translator from Chinese to Belarusian Darja Chmialnickaja was sentenced to 5.5 years in a minimum-security penal colony.
The Homiel Regional Court began the criminal trial of Hleb Dudko, the founder of musical IT startups.
The criminal trial of architects and designers Raman Zabela, Ilja Palonski, Tacciana Palonskaja, and Darja Mandzik, detained in February 2024, started in a Minsk court.
Ruslan Pracharenka, the Belarusian language teacher from Naroŭlia, was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Journalist and author of non-fiction literature Ihar Karniej was added to the list of citizens “involved in extremist activities.”
Daniel-Landsay Keita, a singer of an Orthodox choir and a laureate of vocal contests, was detained in Hrodna.
A court in Belarus designated the books by a political prisoner, public figure, and writer Paviel Sieviaryniec: The Heart of Stone, I Love Belarus: 200 Phenomena of the National Idea, Bielarusalim, The Second Book, and The Heart of Light.
Censorship was introduced in the libraries of penal colonies. Books deemed dangerous by the administration were removed and destroyed.
І. Criminal prosecution of cultural figures, authors and performers
1. On 20 June, Minsk’s Central District Court sentenced writer Alena Cieraškova to three years in home confinement under Part 1 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code (active participation in actions that grossly violate public order). Until the trial, she was held in the pre-trial detention centre in Kaladzičy near Minsk. Alena Cieraškovais a writer, poet, translator, doctor, mother of four children, sister of political prisoner Maksim Viniarski, and a two-time Belarus taekwondo champion. She has authored several 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, about the 2020 protests in Belarus. Alena Cieraškova was detained in Minsk on 20 May 2024.
2. On 20 June, the outcome of ceramic artist Alena Karpienka’s trial became known. Mahiloŭ’s Leninski District Court sentenced Alena to 1.5 years in a minimum-security penal colony on 30 May 2024 under Part 2 of Article 367 of the Criminal Code (defamation of the president).
3. On 24 June 2024, the Vaukavysk District Court in the Hrodna region began the trial of political prisoner, activist and author of prison literature Aliaksandr Franckievič, charged under Article 411 of the Criminal Code with malicious disobedience to the demands of the penal colony’s administration. Aliaksandr Franckievič was repeatedly subjected to administrative and criminal persecution for his civic position and participation in protests and was twice recognised as a political prisoner. Behind bars, he wrote two short stories, The Diary of a Lost Girl and Hug Me Tighter. The stories were included in the book Voice of Freedom from Behind Bars—an anthology of works of Belarusian political prisoners(Vilnius, 2013). In 2013, for the short story Hug Me Tighter, Aliaksandr Franckievič became the laureate of the Francišak Alachnovič Award for the best work written in prison. On September 6, 2022, the Minsk City Court sentenced Aliaksandr Franckievič to 17 years in a medium-security penal colony and fined him 22,400 rubles (over $8,800). On February 28, 2023, the Supreme Court reviewed Franckievič’s appeal in a closed session. The panel of judges decided to shorten Franckievič’s sentence by three months. As a result, he is to spend 16 years and nine months in a medium-security penal colony.
4. On 24 June, Brest Regional Court issued a ruling in absentia against the members of the Rudabelskaja Pakazucha satirical project: composer, songwriter, and blogger Andrej Pavuk, blogger Volha Pavuk, opera singer Marharyta Liaŭčuk, rock musician and Gods Tower frontman Uładzisłaŭ Navažyłaŭ (Lesley Knife), blogger Illja Saliankoŭ, and blogger and producerAliaksandr Čachoŭski. The court found Andrej Pavuk and Volha Pavuk guilty of committing “intentional crimes of extremist nature”: running an extremist formation; collecting money and other property in any way to support extremist activities committed by a group of persons based on collusion; inciting social enmity and discord; slandering against the President of the Republic of Belarus; publicly insulting the President of the Republic of Belarus and representatives of the government; illegal actions concerning information about private life and personal data; promoting extremist activities. Andrej Pavuk was sentenced in absentia to 12 years in a medium-security penal colony and a fine of 5,000 basic units (200,000 BYN, or $61,170). Volha Pavuk was sentenced in absentia to eight years in a minimum-security correctional colony and a fine of 2,500 base units (100,000 BYN or $30,585). Opera singer Marharyta Liaŭčuk, blogger Illja Saliankoŭ, rock singer Uładzisłaŭ Navažyłaŭ were sentenced to between 6 and 8 years of imprisonment and a fine of 500 to 800 base units (20,000 BYN, or $6,117, to 32,000 BYN, or $9,787). Blogger and producer Aliaksandr Čachoŭski was sentenced to three months of arrest for “publicly insulting a representative of the government and desecrating the state symbols.” All the convicted in absentia in this case remain outside Belarus.
5. On 26 June 2024, the court ruling in Darja Chmialnickaja’s trial became known: 5 years and six months in a minimum-security penal colony. The verdict was handed down on 29 April 2024under Part 1 of Article 342 (active participation in actions that grossly violate public order) and Part 2 of Article 361-3 of the Criminal Code (recruitment, training, other training or use of citizens of the Republic of Belarus or persons permanently residing in the Republic of Belarus, persons without citizenship to participate in the armed formation of one of the opposing parties on the territory of a foreign state, in armed conflicts, military operations, as well as financing or other material support of such activities). Darja Chmialnickaja is a writer, translator from Chinese to Belarusian, and author of the blog “Knižny Cmok” (Book Dragon). She graduated from the Faculty of Philology at Belarus State University, majoring in Oriental Philology, and worked as a teacher at the Belarusian-language gymnasium No. 23 in Minsk. In 2023, Darja took second place at the “Spear of Words” competition in the Artistic Translation of the Chinese Prose into the Belarusian language category. She was detained on 16 October 2023. The criminal trial began on 22 April 2024 at the Minsk City Court.
6. On 26 June, the Homiel Regional Court began the criminal trial of Hleb Dudko, creator of music IT startups, charged under Article 361.4 of the Criminal Code (facilitating extremist activities). In 2018, Hleb Dudko launched two startups: Leni: Sing with Piano, a mobile app that performs the functions of a virtual pianist, and Musio, a CRM system designed for planning the work of music teachers.
7. On 27 June, Minsk’s Central Court opened the criminal trial of architects and designers Raman Zabela, Ilja Palonski, Tacciana Palonskaja, and Darja Mandzik, detained in February 2024. They are charged under Part 1 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code (organising, preparing, or actively participating in actions that grossly violate public order). It is believed that the detention was a photograph from the 2020 post-election protests when architects and designers marched in a separate column through Minsk.for
8. On 28 June, it became known that the Homiel Regional Court sentenced behind closed doors 24-year-old Ruslan Pracharenka, who worked as a teacher of Belarusian language and literature in Naroŭlia, to 10 years in prison. He ran his social media pages in Belarusian and wrote about why it was worth speaking Belarusian. Ruslan Pracharenka was convicted as part of a group of 5 persons under Part 1 of Article 356 of the Criminal Code (treason), Part 1, Article 130 of the Criminal Code (inciting enmity or discord), Part 1, Article 361.4 of the Criminal Code (facilitating extremist activities) and Part 1 of Article 406 of the Criminal Code (failure to report a crime).
II. Administrative arrests
On 20 June, it became known that Daniel-Landsay Keita, the singer of an Orthodox choir, the Grade 1 laureate of the Fiodor Shalyapin National Competition of Young Vocalists and the Grade 3 laureate of the Fiodor Shalyapin International Competition of Young Vocalists, was detained in Hrodna. In a video shot by police officers, Daniel-Landsay Keita says that in 2020, he participated in protests and left negative comments about police officers and government officials, as well as about Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine.
III. Repressions for Belarusian and Ukrainian national symbols
In Šumilina, the Catholic priest Andžej Juchniević was sentenced three times to administrative arrest under Article 24.23 of the Code of Administrative Offences for “conducting an unauthorised picket,” that is placing a Ukrainian flag in a social media account. Having spent 45 days behind bars, Andrzej Juchniević was arrested again for ten days.
IV. Conditions in places of confinement
1. On 19 June, it became known that censorship had been introduced in the libraries in the penal colonies. The books that the administration considers dangerous are removed and destroyed. George Orwell‘s novels The Farm and 1984, Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451, some books by modern Belarusian authors, and a textbook of foreign languages were banned.
2. On 28 June, the Ministry of Internal Affairs added journalist, essayist, and author of non-fiction Ihar Karniej to the list of citizens “involved in extremist activities.” On 20 June, he was transferred to the correctional colony No. 17 in Škloŭ to serve his term. Ihar Karniej is a journalist, essayist, author of texts about Belarus’s cultural and historical heritage, and travel blogger arrested in a politically motivated case for professional activity. On 27 July 2023, Ihar Karniej was detained in Minsk; his house was searched. According to the pro-government newspaper Belarus Segodnya, the cause of the criminal case was cooperation with the human rights organisation Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), stripped of its legal status by the Supreme Court in 2021 and designated as an “extremist organisation” in early 2023 the KGB. According to the indictment, Ihar Karniej continued to cooperate with BAJ, creating for its information resources “negative materials insulting the head of state, representatives of the government, journalists and citizens who do not support the unconstitutional change of power.” On 22 March 2024, the Minsk City Court sentenced Ihar Karniej to three years in a minimum-security penal colony under Part 3 of Article 361.1 of the Criminal Code (participation in extremist formation).
V. Repressions in the book sector
On 20 June, Minsk’s Kastryčnicki District Court designated as extremist the books by political prisoner, public figure and writer Paviel Sieviaryniec – The Heart of Stone, I love Belarus: 200 Phenomena of the National Idea, Bielarusalim. The Second Book. The Heart of Light. On 25 June 2021, Mahilioŭ Regional Court sentenced Paviel Sieviaryniec to seven years in a medium-security penal colony behind closed doors.