Mass Detentions of Publishers and Book Distributors Took Place in Minsk

Belarusian books in the "Kropka" store in Vilnius. Photo: Nasha Niva

Searches and detentions were not isolated or accidental, but systemic and planned. In some families, several people were detained. During the searches, phones of all those present in apartments and offices were checked.

They targeted employees of both active and previously closed publishing houses, including both heads of publishing houses and ordinary employees, as well as entrepreneurs involved in the distribution of book products. All those detained have made significant contributions to Belarusian culture.

What exactly they were looking for is still unclear. The next few weeks will show whether this was simply an intimidation campaign — and then the persecution will be limited to administrative arrests — or if the security forces intend to initiate criminal cases.

Earlier, in recent months, arrests took place in several other diverse circles in the capital and regions. Judging by the information coming in, they were looking for evidence of funding from solidarity funds or connections with Belarusians abroad.

The "Tekhnologia" publishing house has suspended its work. A message about this appeared on its Facebook page. "For certain reasons, the "Tekhnologia" publishing house is not operating," the account states. No further explanation is provided in the post.

On February 10, 44-year-old bookseller and book peddler Raman Tsymberau — one of the last in this field — died after a rapid illness.

Five days before that, he suddenly felt unwell, and kidney problems appeared. Afterwards, he suffered a stroke. He was transferred to intensive care but could not be saved. His death caused an outpouring of sympathy, love, and respect for his work on social media.

Mass repressions in Belarus have continued since 2020. At that time, Alexander Lukashenka lost to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya but did not cede power to her, instead forcing her to leave the country. This triggered mass popular protests involving millions of people. In response, the authorities launched political repressions. Hundreds of thousands of Belarusians were forced to leave the country, and hundreds of thousands more ended up on various "blacklists" for dismissal or restriction of rights. Approximately 150,000 became victims of criminal and administrative persecution. A particularly severe blow was dealt to the cultural sector.

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