Belarus

News on anarchist political prisoners in Belarus, February 2023

From ABC Belarus

On 7 February, Dzmitry Dubouski’s appeal hearing took place in the Minsk City Court. Judge Jauhien Pisarevich left the sentence unchanged. Dzmitry’s cumulative sentence for participation in direct actions in 2008-2010 and in 2020 is 20 years of imprisonment.

An interview with a Belarussian anarchist

From Pramen

Full title: An interview with a Belarussian anarchist who was involved in organizing women’s marches in 2020

Today we interview Sveta, an anarchist activist who was involved in organizing women’s marches in 2020. The conversation with Sveta is an attempt once again to draw attention to different sides of the protest movement, and in these difficult times to remember that women played an extremely important role in the uprising against the Lukashenko regime.

Report on the repressions of anarchists in 2022

Report on the repressions of anarchists in 2022

From Anarchist Black Cross Belarus

2022 brought the repressions and squashing of any free thought at the same scale as in 2021. After the full scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, conducted though the Belarusian territory as well, things couldn’t be different. Lukashenko’s dictatorship needed to subdue everyone who could rebel against it.

News on anarchist political prisoners in Belarus, January 2023

From Anarchist Black Cross Belarus

In 28 December 2022, the ministry of justice annulled licenses of a number of lawyers, including Viktar Matskievich, who had defended anarchists Ihar Alinievich and Akikhira Gajeuski-Khanada. Earlier, on 1 December an extraordinary attestation of Viktar Matskievich took place. The certifying committee decided that the lawyer allegedly has insufficient qualification, and then the ministry ruled that Matskievich cannot perform his professional tasks. Viktar Matskievich worked as a lawyer for more than 20 years.

News from Belarusian prisons, December 2022

News from Belarusian prisons, December 2022

From Anarchist Black Cross Belarus

In early December, the KGB (Belarusian secret service) included Anastasia Kukhta into the list of “persons who bear relation to terrorist activity.”
In November, she had been sentenced to 5 years of imprisonment on charges of participation in 2020 protests (art. 342 of the Criminal Code), calls for sanctions or other actions aimed to harm national security (art. 361 part 3) and creation of or leadership in an ʻextremist formationʼ (art. 361-1 part 1).

Main news about anarchist prisoners in Belarus in October 2022

Main news about anarchist prisoners in Belarus in October 2022

From ABC Belarus

On 10 October the trial of Anastasia Kukhta started in Minsk City Court. She is accused of participation in protests (Article 342), calling for sanctions or actions aimed at damaging the national security of the Republic of Belarus (Article 361 part 3) and creation or participation in an extremist formation (Article 361-1 part 1 of the Criminal Code). She faces up to 12 years in jail, the lowest threshold of punishment – 4 years. Initially the regime came to her house with a search on February 17. After she was detained she received 15 days in jail for alleged disorderly conduct, after which she was declared a suspect in a criminal case.

(A-Radio) Fundraising tour of ABC Belarus 2022...

ABC Belarus infotour banner

..., the war in Ukraine and lessons from the Belarus uprising

On its new website, the Anarchist Radio Berlin presents you a talk with ABC Belarus about the situation around the war in Ukraine and lessons from the Belarus uprising 2020. Anarchist Black Cross Belarus recently finished an infotour in Germany, France and Switzerland, partly organized by the Federation of German-speaking Anarchists (FdA-IFA). We were able to talk to a comrade after their presentation in Berlin on 6 October 2022.

Hunger strike of Ihar Alinevich

From avtonom

Ihar Alinevich , an anarcho-partisan sentenced to 20 years for participating in the Belarusian uprising, went on hunger strike. Members of the Anarchist Black Cross collected the latest information about Igor from the Facebook of his mother Valentina Alinevich and from his close friends. Here's what we were able to find out.

Belarusian anarchists given prison sentences from 5 to 17 years

From avtonom

On 6 September Minsk City Court pronounced the verdict in the criminal case of the so-called "international criminal group". There are 14 anarchists and libertarians, four of whom have left Belarus. The defendants were charged under 10 articles, including the articles on the establishment and participation in a criminal organization (paragraph 1 and paragraph 2 of Article 285 of the Criminal Code) and the establishment of an extremist formation (paragraphs 1 and 3 of Article 361-1 of the Criminal Code). The trial was held behind closed doors.

The Anarchist review – an innocent sense of humour amid political unrest

The Anarchist review – an innocent sense of humour amid political unrest

From The Guardian Jermyn Street theatre, London

The first winner of the Woven Voices prize for migrant playwrights is an open-hearted play that layers a Belarusian woman’s past and present.

Leather jackets and protest banners, bootleg booze and molotov cocktails hang from above. These are the props from Dasha’s teenage years growing up in Belarus, back when she was an anarchist and, amid the fall of the Berlin Wall, change felt possible. Now middle-aged, Dasha has a chance to move to the US but, if she is to get away, she’ll have to help quell the unrest that rumbles around yet another corrupt election. Should she flee and thrive – or stay and fight?

The position of the Group of Belarusian Anarchists in Warsaw on the war in Ukraine

The position of the Group of Belarusian Anarchists in Warsaw on the war in Ukraine

From Pramen

After February 24, among ourselves and with comrades from different countries, we often discuss the situation Europe found itself in. Why did the war start? How has it changed the political prospects of the region and, in particular, Belarus? How do we feel about NATO? Is it possible, while remaining anarchists, to serve in the state armed forces? Finally, what should we do in the context of the war, being part of the diaspora in Poland? We have come up with a collective position on these and other issues, which are outlined in the following text.

No one will be left alone

solidarity!

From Anarchist Black Cross Belarus

It’s been almost two years since the 2020 protests in Belarus. The anarchist movement, just like the rest of activists and journalists, has faced the biggest crackdown ever. Many activists had to leave the country, others got behind bars. ABC-Belarus continues its activity and needs support more than ever. At the moment, there are about 30 imprisoned anarchists and antifascists in Belarus and the number keeps growing.

How to write letters to prisoners in Belarus so that they reach them?

Write an anarchist prisoner today!

from Anarchist Black Cross Belarus

Most of our comrades who have sent letters to imprisoned anarchists and anti-fascists have most likely not received any response. This is primarily due to the incredible censorship regime, which in many cases does not allow any correspondence through. [...] For those who send letters this situation is also extremely demotivating: it is unclear whether the letter has reached the comrades or not. [...] That is why we recommend writing letters through our online form. You can do it in Russian or English. After we receive your letters we pass them through our own channels to the comrades in prison. This way if you send letters through our form you can be sure that the prisoners will receive your messages. [...] We ask that you do not use the form to write simple messages such as “hang in there” and so on. Take at least 15 minutes to write letters to your comrades.

“Now it’s definitely time to act”– interview with a member of the Anti-Authoritarian Squad

from pramen

After the war began, many of our comrades in Kiev became either volunteers or members of the Anti-Authoritarian Squad within the Territorial Defense. Now the squad is mainly engaged in training and guard duty. When the enemy was still in the Kyiv region, the guys went to frontline positions to help the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) with surveillance from drones, participated in transporting refugees through the green corridor, and went out on calls from citizens about sabotage groups.

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