PEN America Demands Immediate Release of Belarusian Translator Volha Kalackaja
"The detention of Volha Kalackaja is the latest injustice; PEN America calls for her immediate release and for any and all charges against her to be dropped." More
Siarzh Miadzvedzeu
A member of PEN Belarus, Miadzvedzeu was detained at a peaceful protest in Minsk on September 8, 2020, after the election of Aleksander Lukashenka. He was conditionally released the… More
Uladzimir Liankevich
A project manager at PEN Belarus, Liankevich was detained at a peaceful protest in Minsk on September 8, 2020, after the election of Aleksander Lukashenka. He was sentenced during… More
PEN America Welcomes OSCE Report Outlining Belarus Human Rights Abuses
“We welcome this report, which marks an important international effort to document the human rights violations that have occurred in Belarus related to the August elections." More
PEN America Decries Detention of Belarus Demonstrators Following National Strike
PEN America continues to decry the Belarusian government's arrest of demonstrators, including leading writers and other cultural figures in the country. More
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