Kaciaryna Andrejeva | Belarus | Occupation: Journalist, writer, poet | Situation: Imprisoned

Journalist, writer and poet, Kaciaryna Andrejeva (real name Bachvałava) is serving an eight-year prison sentence in Belarus on bogus charges of ‘state treason’. Andrejeva is currently being held in a medium-security penal colony in Homel, southeastern Belarus.

How you can help

1. Write a message of hope to Kaciaryna Andrejeva.
2. Advocate: contact the Belarusian authorities and your diplomatic contacts.
3. Share her campaign on social media.

Write

Advocacy

PEN International urges the Belarusian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Kaciaryna Andrejeva as well as fellow writers and journalists held in Belarus solely for peacefully expressing their views. Join us in calling for her immediate and unconditional release for the Day of the Imprisoned Writer.

Please inform PEN International of any action you take and any feedback you receive. Appeal letters can be sent to:

Head of the Administration of the President of Belarus: Dmitry Krutoi
President of Belarus: Aliaksandr Lukašenka

Natalya Petkevich
First Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of Belarus
Address: Independence Palace, praspiekt Pieramožcaŭ 12, Minsk, Minskaja voblasć, Belarus

Please send electronic copies to:

Maxim Ryzhenkov
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus
Email: mail@mfa.gov.by

Embassy of Belarus in your own country
Embassy addresses may be found here:

PEN International further urges the international community to continue to exert pressure on the Belarusian authorities to release those imprisoned on political grounds – including Andrejeva – and to redouble efforts to address gross human rights violations in Belarus. Appeals can be sent to your Ministry of Foreign Affairs and your diplomatic representatives in Belarus.

Social Media

Spread the word about Kaciaryna Andrejeva’s case on social media, using this graphic and sample messages below:

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Journalist, writer and poet, #KaciarynaAndrejeva is serving an eight-year prison sentence in #Belarus on bogus charges of ‘state treason’, following her 15 November 2020 arrest. As @pen_int and @pen_belarus mark the Day of the #ImprisonedWriter and four years since her detention, will you join us in calling for her immediate and unconditional release?

Facebook
Journalist, writer and poet, #KaciarynaAndrejeva (real name Bachvałava) is serving an eight-year prison sentence in a medium-security penal colony in Belarus on bogus charges of ‘state treason’, following her arrest on 15 November 2020. As we mark the Day of the #ImprisonedWriter and four years since her unjust detention, we stand with her. Will you join us in calling for her immediate and unconditional release?

Background

Journalist, writer and poet Kaciaryna Andrejeva was arrested in Minsk on November 15, 2020 together with her colleague from Belsat TV, Daria Čulcova. They were livestreaming a peaceful protest honouring the memory of artist Raman Bandarenka, who was reportedly killed by Belarusian security officers following the fraudulent presidential elections of August 2020. Andrejeva and Čulcova were sentenced to seven days of administrative detention on November 17, 2020, before being charged with ‘organizing and preparing of actions that grossly violate public order’ under Article 342, Part 1, of the Belarusian Criminal Code, and placed in pre-trial detention. On February 18, 2021, a court in Minsk found Andrejeva and Čulcova guilty and sentenced them to two years in prison. Their sentence was upheld on appeal on April 23, 2021.

Andrejeva was scheduled to be released on September 5, 2022, yet on July 13, 2022, a court in Homel, southeastern Belarus, sentenced her to an additional eight years in prison on bogus charges of ‘state treason’, under Article 356, Part 1, of the Belarusian Criminal Code. The trial was held behind closed doors. The verdict was upheld on appeal on September 20, 2022. Andrejeva still has to serve the remaining three months in prison left in her first sentence.

Born on November 2, 1993, Andrejeva’s is an award-winning Belarusian journalist and writer. She was working for the leading independent broadcaster Belsat TV at the time of her arrest. Her documentary book Belarusian Donbas, co-authored with her husband, journalist Ihar Iljaš, and published in 2020, details their investigation into the role of Belarusian citizens and organizations in the war in Donbas, Eastern Ukraine. The book was deemed ‘extremist’ by the Belarusian authorities and subsequently banned in 2021. Andrejeva started composing poetry while in prison. Her poems, published and translated by the #FreeAllWords initiative, are available here.

The situation in Belarus remains of grave concern. As documented in a report by PEN Belarus published in July 2024, the past four years have been marked by repression on a global scale, with 1289 people being held on politically motivated grounds at the time of writing. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights concluded that some of the violations it documented may amount to crimes against humanity. Meanwhile, the stigmatization and repression of Belarusian language and literature show no sign of abating.

For more information about the work of PEN Belarus, including their monitoring of cultural and human rights violations against cultural workers, please click here.

Note to Editors
• For further information please contact Aurélia Dondo, Head of Europe and Central Asia Region: Aurelia.dondo@pen-international.org
• For media queries, please contact Sabrina Tucci, Communications and Campaigns Manager,  Sabrina.Tucci@pen-international.org