Take Action for Kaciaryna Andrejeva (Bachvałava) (Belarus) 

Name: Kaciaryna Andrejeva (Bachvałava) 

Occupation: Journalist, writer, poet 
Situation: Imprisoned  
#KaciarynaAndrejeva #ImprisonedWriter   

And whenever I stray 
On paths faraway 
Where beasts left 
Tracks in the snow 
I am scared no longer, 
Amused no longer – 

No more trouble 
No more woe. 
The songs around 
Have lost their sound 
And instead of songs: 
The crunch of spines. 
In my beloved country 
Before spring comes finally, 
Through my prison bars 
You still shine. 

 

Kaciaryna Andrejeva, written from prison in 2021 

Translated from Belarusian by Hanna Komar and John Farndon for #FreeAllWords 

 

Introduction: 
Journalist, writer and poet, Kaciaryna Andrejeva (real name Bachvałava) is serving an eight-year prison sentence in Belarus on bogus charges of ‘state treason’. Andrejeva is currently being held in a medium-security penal colony in Homel, southeastern Belarus. Join us in calling for her immediate and unconditional release for the Day of the Imprisoned Writer. 

2. Write to the Belarusian authorities and your diplomatic contacts

ADVOCACY

PEN International urges the Belarusian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Kaciaryna Andrejeva as well as fellow writers and journalists held in Belarus solely for peacefully expressing their views.  

  • President of Belarus: Aliaksandr Lukašenka  
    Head of the Administration of the President of Belarus: Dmitry Krutoi  

    First Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of Belarus: Natalya Petkevich 

    Address: Independence Palace, praspiekt Pieramožcaŭ 12, Minsk, Minskaja voblasć, Belarus 

    Please send electronic copies to: 

    Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus: Maxim Ryzhenkov. Email: [email protected]. 

    The Embassy of Belarus in your own country. Embassy addresses may be found here.  

    Please inform PEN International of any action you take and any feedback you receive.  

    PEN International further urges the international community to continue to exert pressure on the Belarusian authorities to release those imprisoned on political grounds – including Andrejeva – and to redouble efforts to address gross human rights violations in Belarus. Appeals can be sent to your Ministry of Foreign Affairs and your diplomatic representatives in Belarus. 

  • Journalist, writer and poet, #KaciarynaAndrejeva is serving an eight-year prison sentence in #Belarus on bogus charges of ‘state treason’, following her 15 November 2020 arrest. As we mark the Day of the #ImprisonedWriter and four years since her detention, will you join us in calling for her immediate and unconditional release?  

  • Journalist, writer and poet, #KaciarynaAndrejeva (real name Bachvałava) is serving an eight-year prison sentence in a medium-security penal colony in Belarus on bogus charges of ‘state treason’, following her arrest on 15 November 2020. As we mark the Day of the #ImprisonedWriter and four years since her unjust detention, we stand with her. Will you join us in calling for her immediate and unconditional release?  

3. Share the campaign on social media

SOCIAL MEDIA

Spread the word about Kaciaryna Andrejeva’s case on social media. Use the sample messages below with the hashtags #KaciarynaAndrejeva and #ImprisonedWriter, tagging @pen_int and @pen_belarus (X), @peninternational (Instagram), and facebook.com/peninternational (Facebook). 

Visuals

Please share this graphic on social media to highlight Andrejeva’s case:

  • Journalist, writer and poet Kaciaryna Andrejeva was arrested in Minsk on 15 November 2020 together with her colleague from Belsat TV, Daria Čulcova. They were livestreaming a peaceful protest honouring the memory of artist Raman Bandarenka, who was reportedly killed by Belarusian security officers following the fraudulent presidential elections of August 2020. Andrejeva and Čulcova were sentenced to seven days of administrative detention on 17 November 2020, before being charged with ‘organising and preparing of actions that grossly violate public order’ under Article 342, Part 1, of the Belarusian Criminal Code, and placed in pre-trial detention. On 18 February 2021, a court in Minsk found Andrejeva and Čulcova guilty and sentenced them to two years in prison. Their sentence was upheld on appeal on 23 April 2021.  

     Andrejeva was scheduled to be released on 5 September 2022, yet on 13 July 2022, a court in Homel, southeastern Belarus, sentenced her to an additional eight years in prison on bogus charges of ‘state treason’, under Article 356, Part 1, of the Belarusian Criminal Code. The trial was held behind closed doors. The verdict was upheld on appeal on 20 September 2022. Andrejeva still has to serve the remaining three months in prison left in her first sentence.  

     Born on 2 November 1993, Andrejeva’s is an award-winning Belarusian journalist and writer. She was working for the leading independent broadcaster Belsat TV at the time of her arrest. Her documentary book Belarusian Donbas, co-authored with her husband, journalist Ihar Iljaš, and published in 2020, details their investigation into the role of Belarusian citizens and organisations in the war in Donbas, Eastern Ukraine. The book was deemed ‘extremist’ by the Belarusian authorities and subsequently banned in 2021. Andrejeva started composing poetry while in prison. Her poems, published and translated by the #FreeAllWords initiative, are available here. 

     The situation in Belarus remains of grave concern. As documented in a report by PEN Belarus published in July 2024, the past four years have been marked by repression on a global scale, with 1289 people being held on politically motivated grounds at the time of writing. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights concluded that some of the violations it documented may amount to crimes against humanity. Meanwhile, the stigmatisation and repression of Belarusian language and literature show no sign of abating.  

     For more information about the work of PEN Belarus, including their monitoring of cultural and human rights violations against cultural workers, please click here.  

Share 

Thank you for supporting Kaciaryna Andrejeva. Please share her story on social media to urge others to stand against the Belarusian authorities’ ever-growing crackdown on independent views. 

Note to Editors: 

For further information please contact Aurélia Dondo, Head of Europe and Central Asia Region: [email protected]  

For media queries, please contact Sabrina Tucci, Communications and Campaigns Manager, [email protected]