Poet and PEN Belarus Member Imprisoned for Demonstrating
“Strotsev now joins a long list of Belarusian cultural figures who have been unjustly detained and faced brutal treatment for expressing dissent through their art." More
PEN America Demands Belarus Drop Charges Against Olga Shparaga
"We demand Shparaga’s immediate release. Efforts to silence political opponents through arrests, kidnappings and harassment are a violation of people’s most basic human rights, and are doomed to fail.” More
Arrest of PEN Belarus Member Represents Another Attack on Cultural Leaders
"These disgraceful, ongoing attacks on people exercising their basic rights to expression and peaceful protest must end." More
PEN America Condemns Belarus’ Campaign of Intimidation Against Nobel-Winner Svetlana Alexievich
"All that stands between Svetlana Alexievich and arrest is international pressure and the physical bodies of European diplomats." More
PEN America Calls for the Immediate Release of PEN Belarus Members and Employees
"PEN America is outraged at the unjust detention of our colleagues, leaders of a venerated literary and human rights organization." More
Belarus Journalist Crackdown “Outrageous Rejection” of Press Freedom
"Democratic governments where elections are fair do not expel international news organizations and strip reporting credentials from journalists in the aftermath." More
PEN America Demands Release of Three Belarusian Theater Company Members
"We must call a wolf a wolf: President Lukashenko’s crackdown on protests in the wake of this rigged election is meant to silence dissent and purge his critics." More
PEN America Deeply Alarmed Over Belarus Election Crackdown
“The brutal official Belarusian response to peaceful protest points to why so many citizens are desperate for a restoration of their free expression rights." More
Belarus: PEN Calls for the Immediate Release of Political Prisoners
We are highly concerned about the systematic violations of the right to freedom of expression in the run-up to the presidential elections in Belarus. More
Belarus Approaches Another Undemocratic Election, as Arts and Culture Remains Underground
The courageous Belarusian artists and writers who continue to tell their stories, and to speak the truth, must not be ignored. More
Alert Us
Are you an artist at risk or know someone who is?
PEN America On 
Keep calm and curl up with a good book about #democracy, #disinformation, or #votingrights--it's at least more soothing than Twitter! @PENamerica has some suggestions.
https://pen.org/what-to-expect-when-youre-electing-reading-list/
NEW: Yet another member of @pen_belarus has been detained for speaking out against the Belarusian government. Poet Dmitry Strotsev was sentenced to 13 days in prison after taking part in a peaceful demonstration.
Our statement. https://pen.org/press-release/poet-and-pen-belarus-member-imprisoned-for-demonstrating/
In the leadup to #Election2020 we're turning to the words of writers for their perspectives on how to use their voices for change. Hear from @rokwon for @ellemagazine, on the discipline of hope and the power of collective action https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a34384183/ro-kwon-activism-essay/