The monitoring of repressions against art activists and people from the cultural sphere during the 2020 presidential elections in Belarus (Until June 29, 2020)

INTRODUCTION / SUMMARY

We bring to your attention the monitoring of the persecution of people who have suffered for their art performances or because they tried to express their opinions in a creative way. For their art performances a number of persons were detained, arrested or harassed in another way.

At the moment (June 29, 2020, 11:00 p.m.), Our House’s human rights activists know of 73 cases of repressed people who are somehow involved in art activity in Belarus. Some of them have been prosecuted several times. In some instances, administrative prosecutions turned into criminal ones.

To represent the repressions by the Belarusian authorities in banal numbers: if we only consider  administrative arrests, the people in question have served (or will have served by the end of August) summarily almost two years – 623 days; besides, some of them are still in real prisons because of criminal proceedings. If we confine ourselves just to administrative proceedings, we can count as many as 50 days that these people spent in prison cells. At the moment, there are at least 21 people in prison, at least 20 of them are criminally prosecuted, which is somehow related to art work. They have already served 344 days within pre-trial investigations. The total number of days in prison is 981 days (more than two and a half years).

The total amount of fines that people of art have been imposed is at least 477 basic units, which is 12,879 Belarusian rubles or 4,770 euros.

The Belarusian government initiated at least 20 criminal cases against art activists, bloggers and other cultural workers. The mainly cases are initiated against YouTube bloggers and administrators of social networks. So far, only two bloggers manage to stay at large – Uladzimir Tsimafeyeu and Olga Zhurauskaya are still free, other bloggers are imprisoned. Most of them (and in the future – will be all political prisoners) are recognized as political prisoners.

The full list of repressed art activists is below.

We distinguish three groups of the people related in one way or another to art work who have been repressed:

1. People repressed for their art products that for some reason jar with the state ideology and are critical of Aleksander Lukashenko and his system. For example, because of a poem, a state employer did not prolong the contract with a school teacher Hanna Seviarynets, which is tantamount to dismissal and, possibly, being blacklisted throughout state organizations. Artsiom Troitski was detained for wearing sports shoes decorated with images of cockroaches and having a poster with pictures of cockroaches. Ihar Shchamialiou spent a night in prison for a comment on social media. The group included YouTube bloggers, streamers, administrators of telegram channels, groups in Facebook and those who produced satirical products (pictures, motivators, photo collages, etc.), young people who conduct performances and flash mobs, etc.
2. The people of art and culture repressed for expressing their critical opinion about the authorities. As a result of several trials, the writer Pavel Seviarynets has been imprisoned summarily for 90 days (15 days each term). Tortures were so unbearable that he resorted to demonstrate readiness to cut his veins. The documentary film maker Volha Nikalaychyk has been imprisoned for 58 days. In prison, she was deprived of hygienic means and the medication she needed; nor does she receive medical assistance.
3. People who have suffered for their support of the art shop Symbal.by. Even those who do not organize art events suffer during these elections in Belarus simply because they dare support other art projects. For example, a group of young people was detained just because they queued at an art shop: they were detained right on the street and beaten. Since people did not give up and continued to come to the store and queue, the authorities arranged throwing water at them from a street cleaning machine. Summarily, people who wanted to buy art goods in the art shop were punished with 13 days in prison and 700 euro of fines. At least one person who wanted to buy art products at the art shop Symbal.by was fired. He had been employed in the Ministry of Emergencies.

However, the whole story is not limited just to “ordinary” fines and “ordinary” arrests. Some people of art are fired. There are more perfidious forms of persecution. In case of Siarhei Dzhyha, in addition to a fine, phone snapshots disappeared after his arrest. Some live reporters from the initiative group of Tikhanovsky were severely beaten during detainment. Now, deprived of legal assistancee, they undergo torture in a KGB jail.

Authorities threaten the blogger Palina Sharenda that they would take away her children.

At the moment, Belarusian human rights organizations (and, with a high degree of probability, international ones) have recognized 9 art activists as political prisoners.

In addition, the destruction of the ecosystem of Belarusian culture and art is underway.

1. Eduard Babaryka, the son of presidential candidate Viktar Babaryka, head of crowdfunding platforms Ulej and MolaMola, cultural manager, was detained and is now kept in a KGB prison.
2. The cultural crowdfunding platforms Ulej and MolaMola themselves are blocked; their accounts are also blocked. Let us remind that a number of cultural projects were implemented through the ulej.by portal, including 211 cultural projects related to the publication of books for children and adults in Belarusian and Russian languages, 82 cultural projects theatre and cinema performances, documentary and short feature films, 77 cultural projects related to debut music albums and clips of already famous music artists, 92 media projects (blogs, journalism, online publications), 191 initiatives related to the social sphere (support for hospitals, animals etc.), 126 projects related to fashion design (clothing, accessories, creative products), 88 business projects – they all came to being through these platforms.
3. The fate of the Belgazprombank corporate collection is unknown. The corporate collection of Belgazprombank is a collection of art works, created as part of the national historical and cultural project Art Belarus and at the moment has more than 150 exhibits: paintings, sculptures, and books. The basis of the collection are the works of Belarus-born artists from the Paris school: Marc Chagall, Chaïm Soutine, Faïbich-Schraga Zarfin, Pinchus Krémègne, Michel Kikoïne, Ossip Lubitch, Ossip Zadkine. 35 exhibits of the collection are included in the state list of historical and cultural values of the Republic of Belarus. Since 2017, most of the collection has been exhibited in the Art Belarus Gallery, located in the Palace of Arts and, until recently, has been available to all visitors. According to state media, “one and a half hundred paintings worth $ 20 million were attached to criminal cases, within which Belgazprombank employees are suspected to be accomplices.” Art experts call this a “raider seizure”. Today, the fate and whereabouts of the collection are unknown and there are fears that the paintings will disappear during the investigation and will be lost for Belarus.

We had to update the monitoring several times during the preparation because the repressions are increasing and we should expect the continuation of pressure against art and culture in Belarus.

We urge the international society to stop repressions against cultural workers, art activists and creative people in Belarus.

 

THE CONTENT:

 

Chapter 1. The administrative arrests of YouTube bloggers, art activists and cultural workers …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..3

Chapter 2. Fines for YouTube bloggers, art activists and cultural workers …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..8

Chapter 3. The criminal cases against YouTube bloggers, art activists and cultural workers ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………9

Chapter 4. People who have suffered for their support of the art shop Symbal.by. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………11

Some abbreviations in the text:

* CFL  – Country For Life, the group of YouTube bloggers, film makers, photographs and satiric cartoons creators who created the video and other visual satiric content in Belarus

* IG   – Initiative group of a presidential candidate 

* CAO or CAO RB  – Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Belarus

* CC or CC RB  – Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus

* b.v. – The base value is 27 rubles or 10-11  euros.

 

Chapter 1.  The administrative arrests of YouTube bloggers, art activists and cultural workers until June 29, 2020

	Name	Art activity or occupation	The accusation article	Other repressions	The days in prison before the trial	The number of days in pre-detention center	Total number of days in prison
1	Azarovich Luis	Anti-Parade
2	Aliaksandr No name	CFL	23.34 CAO  23.4 CAO
3	Anastasiya	administrator of social networks
4	Andreyeu Aliaksandr	administrator of social networks
5	Aranovich Aliaksandr	CFL	23.34 CAO, 342 CC		1	32	6
6	Arshynski Mikhail	blogger	p.2 22.9 CAO   p.1 23.34 CAO		4		21
7	Babaryka Eduard	Cultural worker	243 CC			12
8	Barsukova Yuliya	administrator of social networks	p.1 23.34 CAO 23.34 CAO
9	Biakaliuk Dzmitry	art perfomance	p.3 23.34 CAO				3
10	Babrouski Vasily	CFL	p.1 342 CC	Search of flat by police		32
11	Bahamolau Andrei	musician	p.1 23.34 CAO
12	Bespalau Siarhei	administrator of social networks		Threats of CC and threats of search by police
13	Varantsou Mikhail	Anti-Parade
14	Dzemchanka Ilya	Support of art chop symbol.by	p.1 23.34 CAO  23.4 CAO
15	Daletski Kanstantsin	administrator of social networks	detained
16	Zhurauskaya Volha	blogger	17.1 CAO, 369 CC РБ
17	Illiuk Andrei	CFL	detained
18	Kabanau Aliaksandr	blogger	p.1 23.34 CAO p.3 23.34 CAO		1		18
19	Kalach Vasily	Teather director «Heksahen»	23.34 CAO				5
20	Kalko Yuri	Art perfomance	p.1 23.34 CAO  23.4 CAO		6
21	Kenharli Rafik	Support of art shop symbol.by	p.1 23.34 CAO  23.4 CAO
22	Klaukin Uladzislau	Anti-Parade	detained
23	Kazlou Dzmitry	blogger	p.3 23.34 CAO detained		1		20
24	Kanavalava Antanina	administrator of social networks	detained
25	Karaliou Mikhail	administrator of social networks	detained
26	Karalenka Ulad	blogger	343 CC			17
27	Krutkin Ales	blogger, poet	detained	Search of flat by police	1		15
28	Kuzniatsou Aliaksandr	Support of art shop symbol.by	p.1 23.34 CAO  23.4 CAO
29	Lauretski Daniil	Anti-Parade	p.3 23.34 CAO		3		13
30	Lazarenka Siarhei	CFL	detained
31	Losik Ihar	administrator of social networks	342 CC РБ	Search of flat by police		5
32	Lukomski Dzmitry	CFL blogger	p.1 23.34 CAO				15
33	Markelau Piotr	leagalize Belarus	23.4 CAO      17.1 CAO		2		10
34	Maslouski Mikalai	blogger	p.3 23.34 CAO				15
35	Mikhalevich Andrei	Administrator of telegram channel	p.2 17.11 CAO
36	Naumik Uladzimir	CFL	p.1 342 CC	search of flat by police		22
37	Unknown	Art perfomance	detained
38	Niaronski Uladzimir	blogger	p.1 342 CC, 23.34 CAO		1	5	25
39	Nikalaychyk Volha	Documentary film maker	23.34 CAO        p.3 23.34 CAO	Deprived of hygiene and medicine	1		58
40	Palchys Eduard	blogger	23.34 CAO				30
41	Pashkevich Usiaslau	blogger	23.34 CAO		1
42	Piatrukhin Siarhei	blogger	p.1 23.34 CAO, p.1 342 CC	Was imprisoned together with people sick for COVID19	5	14	15
43	Paliyenka Dzmitry	Art activist	p.2 23.34 CAO
44	Paplauski Aliaksandr	Support of art shop symbol.by	p.1 23.34 CAO  23.4 CAO
45	Popov Dzmitry	administrator of social networks CFL				26	15
46	Prakopchyk Liza	Anti-Parade	23.34 CAO		3		5
47	Prus Ivan	Blogger акция звонок	17.1 CAO
48	Raychonak Aliaksandr	Support of art shop symbol.by	p.1 23.34 CAO  23.4 CAO
49	Raznichenka Yauhen	CFL	23.34 CAO, 364CC РБ	search of flat by police		32	6
50	Ramiazouski Ivan	blogger	23.34 CAO		1		15
51	Rudzevich Dzianis	blogger	22.9 CAO
52	Saurytski Pavel	Anti-Parade
53	Sakau Artsiom	CFL	23.34 CAO, p.1 342 CC РБ		1	30	5
54	Seviarynets Hanna	poet		Lost her job
55	Seviarynets Pavel	writer	p.3 23.34 CAO	tried to commit the suicide against torture in prison	1		90
56	Siarohin Kanstantsin	blogger	23.4 CAO detained in 23:00				3
57	Sparysh Siarhei	Administrator of Facebook group	23.4 CAO	Police violence during detention	1		23
58	Surynin Ihar	Support of art shop symbol.by	p.1 23.34 CAO  23.4 CAO
59	Tsimafeyeu Dzmitry	blogger	23.34 CAO 23.4 CAO       23.5 CAO, 189 CC		3		22
60	Tsikhanouski Siarhei	blogger	p.1 23.34 CAO 23.34 CAO, p.1 342 CC, 191 CC			32	45
61	Tsikhanau Ilya	administrator of social networks	p.1 23.34 CAO		2		10
62	Troitski Artsiom	Art perfomance	detained
63	Ushak Viarhili	оператор	p.1 342 CC РБ			32
64	Furmanau Dzmitry	CFL	p.1 342 CC РБ			32
65	Tsukanau Aliaksandr	blogger	p.1 23.34 CAO detained		3		40
66	Tsyhanovich Uladzimir	blogger	23.34 CAO 23.4 CAO			15	30
67	Sharenda Andrei	Art perfomance		the property seized
68	Sharenda Palina	Art perfomance		the property seized
69	Shashok Stas	Anti-Parade
70	Shchamialiou Ihar	For comment in social networks	23.34 CAO		1
71	Yuliya (unknown)	streamer
72	Yanovich Veranika	Anti-Parade
73	Yanushkouskaya Alena	blogger	Prevention, p.3 23.34 CAO		6
				TOTAL	50	344	623

 

The conclusion from the table: this is 73 cases of repressed people who are somehow involved in art activity in Belarus. Some of them have been prosecuted several times. In some instances, administrative prosecutions turned into criminal ones. To represent the repressions by the Belarusian authorities in banal numbers: if we only consider  administrative arrests, the people in question have served (or will have served by the end of August) summarily almost two years – 623 days; besides, some of them are still in real prisons because of criminal proceedings. If we confine ourselves just to administrative proceedings, we can count as many as 50 days that these people spent in prison cells. At the moment, there are at least 21 people in prison, at least 20 of them are criminally prosecuted, which is somehow related to art work. They have already served 344 days within pre-trial investigations. The total number of days in prison is 981 days (more than two and a half years).

The main articles in CAO used against YouTube bloggers, cultural workers and art activists.

Article 23.34 of the CAO – Violation of the procedures for organizing or conducting public events /actions; including part 3 of Article 23.34 of the CAO   – Acts provided for in paragraph 1 of this article, that are committed repeatedly within one year after imposing an administrative penalty for the same violations – entail a fine in the amount of from twenty to fifty basic units or administrative arrest.

 

Article 23.4 of the CAO   – Disobedience to a lawful order or requirement of an official in connection with the performance of his/her official duties;

 

Article 17.1 of the CAO (Hooliganism) – insulting actions to violate public order.

Article 22.9 of the CAO (Violation of the legislation on the mass media), part 2 – violation of the established procedure for sending mandatory free copies of periodicals, the distribution of erotic publications, the publication and dissemination of information about the refutation, as well as the illegal production and (or) distribution of mass media

Article 23.5 of the – Insulting of state bodies during their realization of state duties

 

Chapter 2. Fines for YouTube bloggers, art activists and cultural workers in Belarus

	Name	Art activity or occupation	Article of CAO	The days in prison before the trial	Fines (b.v.)
1	Aliaksandr (фамилия неизвестна)	CFL	23.34 CAO  23.4 CAO		50
2	Arshynski Mikhail	blogger	p.2 22.9 CAO  p.2 22.9 CAO p.1 23.34 CAO 23.34 CAO		42
3	Barsukova Yuliya	administrator of social networks	p.1 23.34 CAO 23.34 CAO		30
4	Zhurauskaya Volha	blogger	17.1 CAO		30
5	Kalko Yuri	Art perfomance	p.1 23.34 CAO  23.4 CAO	6	70
6	Kazlou Dzmitry	blogger	p.3 23.34 CAO detained		50
7	Kanavalava Antanina	administrator of social networks			20
8	Karaliou Mikhail	administrator of social networks			4
9	Pashkevich Usiaslau	blogger	23.34 CAO	1	30
10	Prus Ivan	blogger			20
11	Tsimafeyeu Dzmitry	blogger	23.34 CAO 23.4 CAO       23.5 CAO		1
12	Tsikhanouski Siarhei	blogger	p.1 23.34 CAO 23.34 CAO p.1 23.34 CAO		45
13	Shashok Stas	Anti-Parade
14	Yanushkouskaya Alena	blogger	Prevention, p.3 23.34 CAO	6	85
			TOTAL	13	477
				↑ Days in prison	↑ Fines ↓
			TOTAL in BYN		12879
			TOTAL in Euro		4770

 

The conclusion from the table: 14 people were fined 12,879 rubles, which on average is almost a thousand rubles per person, or 340 euros per person. In addition, three of those fined, in addition to their fines, were imprisoned for 13 days before trial.

From the correlations of the repressions from the table #1 and the table #2, we can see the state strategy for the persecution of this presidential campaign – the government is trying to isolate all creative people and art activists, to detain most art activists and creative people in prisons until the end of the election.

Chapter 3. The criminal cases against YouTube bloggers, art activists and cultural workers

 

	Name	Art activity or occupation	The article in     CC RB	The number of days in pre-detention centre	The status
1	Aranovich Aliaksandr	CFL	342 CC РБ	32	Political prisoner
2	Babaryka Eduard	Cultural worker	243 CC	12	Political prisoner
3	Babrouski Vasily	CFL	p.1 342 CC, search of flat by police	32	Political prisoner
4	Zhurauskaya Volha	blogger	369 CC РБ
5	Kabanau Aliaksandr	blogger	p. 1 art. 342 CC
6	Karalenka Ulad	blogger	343 CC	17	Political prisoner
7	Losik Ihar	administrator of social networks	342 CC	5	Political prisoner
8	Naumik Uladzimir	CFL	p.1 342 CC  search of flat by police	22	Political prisoner
9	Niaronski Uladzimir	blogger	p.1 342 CC	5
10	Piatrukhin Siarhei	blogger	p.1 342 CC	14
11	Popov Dzmitry	administrator of social networks CFL	detained	26
12	Raznichenka Yauhen	команда CFL	364 CC search of flat by police	32
13	Sakau Artsiom	оператор CFL	p.1 342 CC	30	Political prisoner
14	Statkevich Mikalai	Politician, blogger	p. 1 art. 342CC	3
					Political prisoner
14	Tsimafeyeu Dzmitry	blogger	189 CC
15	Tsikhanouski Siarhei	blogger	p.1 342 CC, 191 CC	32	Political prisoner
16	Ushak  Viarhili	CFL	p.1 342 CC	32	Political prisoner
17	Furmanau Dzmitry	CFL	p.1 342 CC	32	Political prisoner
18	Tsyhanovich Uladzimir	blogger		15	Political prisoner
20	Tsyhanovich Uladzimir	блогер		15	Political prisoner
			TOTAL days in prison	344

 

The conclusion from the table: the Belarusian government initiated at least 20 criminal cases against art activists, bloggers and other cultural workers. The mainly cases are initiated against YouTube bloggers and administrators of social networks. So far, only two bloggers manage to stay at large – Uladzimir Tsimafeyeu and Olga Zhurauskaya are still free, other bloggers are imprisoned. Most of them (and in the future – will be all political prisoners) are recognized as political prisoners.

The criminal articles against YouTube bloggers, art activists and cultural workers:

Article 191. Obstruction of the exercise of electoral rights, the right to participate in a referendum, or the performance of the right of legislative initiative of citizens, or the work of the Central Commission of the Republic of Belarus on the election and conduct of Republican Referendums, election commissions, referendum commissions, election commissions on the recall of a deputy – ( Part 1) shall be punished with community service, or a fine, or correctional labor for a term of up to two years, or restriction of liberty for a term of up to three years, or imprisonment for the same term;

 

Part 1, article 342. Organization of group actions that grossly violate public order and involve obvious disobedience to the legitimate requirements of representatives of the authority or entail disruption of the work of transport, enterprises, institutions or organizations, or active participation in such actions in the absence of characteristics of a more serious crime –– shall be punished with a fine, or arrest, or restriction of liberty for a term of up to three years, or imprisonment for the same term;

Article 364. Violence or the threat of violence against a member of the internal affairs bodies or his relatives in order to obstruct his legitimate activities; or to force him to change the nature of this activity; or out of revenge for the performance of official activities — shall be punished with arrest or restriction of liberty for a term of up to five years or imprisonment for up to six years;

Article 369. Public insult of a representative of the authorities in connection with the performance of his/her official duties – shall be punished with community service, or a fine, or correctional labor for a term of up to two years, or arrest, or restriction of liberty for a term of up to three years;

Article 343. Production and distribution of pornographic materials or objects of a pornographic nature – (Part 1) shall be punished with community service, or a fine, or correctional labor for a term of up to two years, or arrest;

Article 421. Non-compliance with the requirements of preventive supervision without good reason, committed by a person who is under preventive supervision, who was subjected to administrative punishment for the same violations twice a year – is punishable by arrest or imprisonment for a term of up to one year;

Part 2, article 430. Receiving a bribe repeatedly, through extortion, or through a group of persons with prior conspiracy, or in large amounts – shall be punishable by deprivation of liberty for a term of three to ten years with a fine and deprivation of the right to occupy certain positions or engage in certain activities;

 

Article 209. Fraud –– shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term of three to ten years with a fine;

 

Article 189. Intentional humiliation of the honor and dignity of a person expressed in the indecent form (insult), in a public speech, or in a printed or publicly displayed work, either in the media or in the information disseminated on the World Wide Web – Internet; another public telecommunication networks or a dedicated telecommunication network, – shall be punished with a fine, or correctional labor for a term of up to two years, or arrest, or restriction of liberty for a term of up to three years;

 

Article 235. Legalization (“laundering”) of funds obtained by criminal means – shall be punished by deprivation of liberty for a term of five to ten years with a fine and with deprivation of the right to occupy certain positions or engage in certain activities;

Article 243. Evasion of the payment of taxes and fees – shall be punished by restraint of liberty for a term of up to five years with a fine and with deprivation of the right to occupy certain positions or engage in certain activities; or without deprivation of liberty or deprivation of liberty for a term of three to seven years with a fine and with deprivation of the right to occupy certain positions or engage in certain activities or without deprivation.

Chapter 4. People who have suffered for their support of the art shop Symbal.by or art people under repressions. Even those who do not organize art events suffer during these elections in Belarus simply because they dare support other art projects. For example, a group of young people was detained just because they queued at an art shop: they were detained right on the street and beaten. Since people did not give up and continued to come to the store and queue, the authorities arranged throwing water at them from a street cleaning machine. Summarily, people who wanted to buy art goods in the art shop were punished with 13 days in prison and 700 euro of fines. At least one person who wanted to buy art products at the art shop Symbal.by was fired. He had been employed in the Ministry of Emergencies.

 

Name	Art activity or occupation	Aricle in CAO /CC	The days in prison before the trial	The number of days in pre-detention center	The number of days in prison	Fines (b.v.)
Babaryka Eduard	Cultural worker	243 CC РБ		12
Biakaliuk Dzmitry	Art activist	p.3 23.34 CAO			3
Dzemchanka Ilya	For support of the art shop symbol.by	p.1 23.34 CAO  23.4 CAO
Kalko Yuri	Art perfomance	p.1 23.34 CAO  23.4 CAO	6			70
Kenharli Rafik	For support of the art shop symbol.by	p.1 23.34 CAO  23.4 CAO
Kuzniatsou Aliaksandr	For support of the art shop symbol.by	p.1 23.34 CAO  23.4 CAO
Markelau Piotr	Art perfomance	23.4 CAO      17.1 CAO	2		10
Paliyenka Dzmitry	art activist	p.2 23.34 CAO
Paplauski Aliaksandr	For support of the art shop symbol.by	p.1 23.34 CAO  23.4 CAO
Prus Ivan	Blogger, for the calling to police with the question “How to be not detained”	17.1 CAO
Raychonak Aliaksandr	For support of the art shop symbol.by	p.1 23.34 CAO  23.4 CAO
Surynin Ihar	For support of the art shop symbol.by	p.1 23.34 CAO  23.4 CAO
Shchamialiou Ihar	Comment in social networks	23.34 CAO	1
			The days in prison before the trial	The number of days in pre-detention centre	The days of arrests	Fines (b.v.)
		TOTAL	9	12	13	70