More than 60 artists convicted on political grounds in 2022 – Belarusian PEN

October 27, BPN. Human rights monitors registered 998 instances of human rights abuse in culture in the first nine months of 2022, says a report by Belarusian PEN.

Authorities convicted 62 artists on politically-motivated charges. Of these, 40 were given prison terms, 12 sentenced to restricted freedom terms in an open-type correctional facility, and ten, to restricted freedom terms in home confinement.

Belarusian PEN noted that authorities usually accuse artists of defamation, inciting hatred and participating in protests merely for exercising their right to freedom of expression. Mistreatment of artists continues behind bars, it added, citing lack of hygiene, cold and overcrowded cells, lack of mattresses, and restrictions on correspondence.

People arrested on criminal charges experience additional pressure, as authorities place them in punishment cells and close-type prisons, and bring new charges for disobeying internal rules.

Authorities have designated 30 artists as extremists and 12 as terrorists, PEN noted.

Other examples of cultural rights violations include closures of culture associations and art spaces, censorship, prejudice against Poles and the destruction of Polish memorial sites, discrimination against the Belarusian language and persecution for the use of Belarusian and Ukrainian symbols, it added.

The report also said that authorities keep monopolizing culture and firing staff from state cultural and educational institutions on suspicion of disloyalty.