As PEN Belarus has learned, on 31 July 2026 the Kastryčnicki District Court of Minsk designated three printed publications as “extremist materials”:
- Alaksandr Bal’s collections The Merciless Little Waltz and Night. And You…;
- Oleg Kashin’s book Finish Off the Survivors: The Origins and Meaning of Russian Trumpism.
All three books were published in 2026.
Alaksandr Bal is a Belarusian songwriter and performer. The banned collections contain his anti-war songs and socially engaged poetry. They were privately published in a limited print run.
Oleg Kashin is a Russian journalist living in exile. His book is a journalistic diary covering the years 2024–2025, focusing on Russia’s war against Ukraine and global politics.
This decision is significant for several reasons.
First, the repressive system is responding to new publications with increasing speed: the period between a book’s publication and its prohibition has been reduced to just a few months.
Second, the authorities have targeted anti-war works and independent political commentary. Declaring lyrical works “extremist” means that it is no longer actions—or even calls to action—that are being punished, but rather an author’s perception of the world. This contradicts international human rights standards and Article 51 of the Constitution of Belarus, which guarantees freedom of artistic expression.
Third, Kashin’s book is not about Belarus, was not distributed through the Belarusian book market, and was not directed against the Belarusian authorities. Its prohibition demonstrates that the list of “extremist materials” is being used not to neutralize any genuine threat, but to isolate Belarusian readers from independent political commentary as such.
From a legal perspective, this decision is incompatible with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It also violates Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Articles 33, 34, and 51 of the Constitution of Belarus; and Articles 2, 35, and 38 of the Code on Culture, all of which impose a positive obligation on the state to promote culture and ensure access to cultural achievements. Belarusian legislation defines “extremism” so broadly that authors cannot reasonably foresee whether their work will be banned. Neither a collection of songs nor a journalistic diary poses a threat to national security or public order, while suppressing dissent cannot be regarded as a legitimate aim.
The procedure for adopting such decisions also remains opaque. Court hearings are held behind closed doors under simplified procedures; authors and publishers are effectively deprived of the opportunity to defend their rights; and neither court rulings nor the opinions of expert commissions are made public. Belarusian legislation also provides no separate procedure for removing books from the list once they have been designated as “extremist.”
Following the decision of 31 July, the number of books banned in Belarus has exceeded 369, while the number of banned authors has reached 307.
PEN Belarus views this not as an isolated incident, but as yet another episode in the systematic and arbitrary policy of cultural repression.
We call for these unlawful court decisions to be overturned and for the publications to be removed from the list of “extremist materials.”
We will continue to document every violation of cultural rights so that evidence of these repressions is preserved for history and for future legal accountability.