It has become known that on 2 July 2026, the Zavodski District Court of Minsk added nine new books to Belarus’s official list of “extremist materials.”
- Svetlana Alexievich, 100 Quotes on Radio Liberty (Radio Svaboda, 2019)
- White Is the Frozen Expanse. A Collection of Songs Set to Poems by Larysa Hienijuš and Piotra Rusaŭ (Tekhnaprint, 2003)
- Minsk Spring (Naša Niva, 1996)
- Vincuk Viačorka, Don’t Make My Prepositions Laugh (Radio Svaboda, 2017)
- The National Programme “Free Belarus” (Belarusian News, 2017)
- Stanislav Shushkevich, Neocommunism in Belarus: Ideology, Practice, Prospects (Skif, Smolensk, 2002)
- The Belarusian Political System and the 2001 Presidential Election (Warsaw: Wschodnioeuropejskie Centrum Demokratyczne IDEE, 2001)
- Uładzimir Kołas, The Fate of the Lyceum: Autobiographical Notes (St. Petersburg: Nevsky Prostor, 2006)
- Michaił Pastuchoŭ, Programme of Constitutional Reforms (Minsk: BSDP, 2020)
We remind you that the inclusion in the “National List of Extremist Materials” carries severe legal consequences, including administrative liability for producing, publishing, possessing, or transporting the banned book. In practice, the scope of “prohibited acts” is applied excessively broadly. Sanctions range from heavy fines to administrative arrest, creating a powerful deterrent for authors, publishers, and readers.
You can read more in detail about the legal assessment here.