PEN Belarus has learned that on 1 September 2026, the Leninsky District Court of Mahiloŭ designated two new books as “extremist materials”:
- Anatol Sanacienka, Return to the Homeland (Minsk: Hałiafy, 2016) / Kamunikat.org Digital Library
- Anatol Varšaŭski, Heavenly Flax (Kamunikat.org Digital Library, 2024)
Both books were published in the Belarusian online library Kamunikat.org: Anatol Sanacienka’s book and Anatol Varšaŭski’s book.
Anatol Sanacienka is a poet, prose writer, playwright, translator, and editor. He is editor-in-chief of Babrujski Kurjer. His poetry, prose, and plays have been published in local and national Belarusian publications, as well as in the Russian press. Return to the Homeland is his first book in Belarusian. It explores “the homeland, women, and love,” as well as the author’s journey towards Belarusian language and culture, and includes translations of works by Guillaume Apollinaire, whose grandfather and mother came from Belarus.
Anatol Varšaŭski is a Belarusian poet and translator who lived and worked in Belarus in the 1990s and 2000s. Heavenly Flax brings together works written in different periods by this lyrical poet, whose writing continues the traditions of Belarusian classical literature.
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.
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.