As of 31 March 2025, at least 165 cultural figures, including not less than 36 writers, were not free – imprisoned or in home confinement.
Historian and singer-songwriter Dzmitry Novikaŭ (aka Ahniavit) was detained in connection with a criminal case for participating in the 2020 post-election protests.
Prison literature author Mikoła Dziadok was transferred to Detention Centre No. 1 in Kaladzičy due to a new criminal case.
Iryna Sałankova was sentenced to 20 days of arrest for shouting “Glory to Ukraine!” during Luhansk Theatre’s performance of the rock opera “Crucified Youth” in Minsk.
Andrej (Andrzej) Pačobut had his confinement in a cell-type room extended for another six months.
Cultural scholar Vacłaŭ Areška turned 70 behind bars. His eyesight has significantly deteriorated during incarceration.
A court in Belarus has declared the book The Accidental President (A Political Portrait) as “extremist informational materials”.
The Investigative Committee published a statement containing threats against the participants in the Freedom Day celebrations outside Belarus.
I. Criminal prosecution of cultural figures, authors, and performers
1. On 19 March, it became known that history populariser and singer-songwriter Dzmitry Novikaŭ (aka Ahniavit) was detained in Minsk under Article 342 of the Criminal Code (organising, preparing or actively participating in actions that grossly violate public order). Dzmitry Novikaŭ (Ahniavit) ran several creative projects, including the Telegram channel “Baiki dyadyushki Ognevita” (“Uncle Ognevit’s Tales”), the website PaleoNews – News of Palaeontology, and a local history YouTube channel featuring unconventional routes across Belarus.
2. On 31 March, it became known that Mikoła Dziadok, author of prison literature, had been transferred to Detention Centre No. 1 in Kaladzičy due to a new criminal case. He was scheduled to walk out free on 4 April 2025. Mikoła Dziadok is the author of the book Colours of a Parallel World, a blogger, a contributor to the Novy Chas newspaper, and an activist of the anarchist movement. The book Colours of a Parallel World analyses the Belarusian prison system and the prison’s administrations’ methods of breaking inmates’ will. It is based on Mikoła Dziadok’s own experience during his first politically motivated imprisonment when he spent 4.5 years behind bars (from 2010 to 2015 under the so-called “anarchists’ case”) and was recognised as a political prisoner. His current sentence—five years in prison—was issued on 10 November 2021 by the Minsk City Court.
II. Administrative persecution
On 24 March, police detained Iryna Sałankova in Minsk after she shouted “Glory to Ukraine!” during the 23 March performance of the rock opera “Crucified Youth” by the visiting Luhansk Academic Music and Drama Theatre troupe at the Belarusian State Philharmonic.
State propagandist Ksienija Lebiedzieva wrote on her Telegram channel that the slogan was shouted while the audience was “clapping with tears in their eyes”. She also claimed that Iryna Sałankova resisted the police during her detention, stating: “She dropped to the floor, resisted, and had to be carried into the police car by four officers.”
On 26 March, Minsk’s Saviecki District Court sentenced Iryna Sałankova to 20 days of administrative arrest under Article 24.23 of the Code of Administrative Offences (organising a mass event) and Article 23.4 (disobedience to a police officer).
III. Conditions in the places of incarceration
1. Political prisoner, journalist, and essayist Andrej (Andrzej) Pačobut had his confinement in a cell-type room extended by six months at Penal Colony No. 1 in Navapołack. Such cells are used for prisoners deemed to have committed “malicious violations of the established order of serving sentences in correctional colonies”.
During his imprisonment, Andrej Pačobut’s health has significantly deteriorated, with problems related to high blood pressure, heart issues, and vision.
Pačobut is the author of the book System Belarus (System Białoruś, 2013). Written for a Polish publisher, it explores problems characteristic of Belarus and the entire post-Soviet space.
On 8 February 2023, the Hrodna Regional Court sentenced Andrej Pačobut to 8 years in a medium-security penal colony, finding him guilty under Part 3 of Article 361 of the Criminal Code (calls for restrictive measures [sanctions] aimed at harming national security), and Part 3 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code (incitement of national, religious, or other social hatred and discord).
2. Political prisoner and cultural scholar Vacłaŭ Areška turned 70 years old behind bars. During his imprisonment, his vision has significantly deteriorated.
Vacłaŭ Areška graduated from the Belarusian State Academy of Arts with a degree in theatre studies, worked at the Young Spectator’s Theatre and National Art Museum, and taught at the Belarusian State Academy of Arts. He developed a new academic course titled “History and Theory of Belarusian Culture”, translated works of Belarusian Baroque literature from Old Polish. He wrote book and software reviews for Nasha Niva newspaper.
On 5 January 2023, the Minsk City Court sentenced Vacłaŭ Areška to eight years in a medium-security penal colony.
IV. Repressions against books
On 18 March 2025, Minsk’s Centralny District Court declared the book The Accidental President (A Political Portrait)” by journalists Pavieł Šaramiet and Sviatłana Kalinkina “extremist informational materials”. The book was published in 2004 by Limbus Press in Russian in St. Petersburg. The court’s ruling also applies to any copies or other editions of the book.
V. Persecution of exiled cultural figures
1. On 21 March, the Investigative Committee published a statement containing threats against participants of the Freedom Day celebrations held on 25 March outside Belarus. It read: “Law enforcement agencies will analyse data on potential and actual participants in these events to identify individuals and subsequently bring them to criminal responsibility, including through the use of special proceedings mechanism.”
2. On 30 March, it became known that the KGB had seized a house in Pinsk belonging to journalist and poet Alaksiej Dzikavicki.
VI. Censorship
On 28 March, the exhibition “Art-Minsk 2025” opened in Minsk. The organisers announced a record number of applications for the event—1,300. However, only 550 works by 225 artists were included in the exhibition at the Palace of Arts, meaning that more than 700 applications were not accepted.
The art festival saw a reduction of 25 artists compared to 2024 and more than 200 fewer than in 2020. Currently, organisers of exhibitions at both state and private cultural venues must submit to the Ministry of Culture the list of participants and the artworks that will be displayed.