The Booksellers' Case. What are Kolas, Yaudakha, and Bahdanovich known for, who were arrested for publishing and distributing books?

The list of people whom the authorities consider connected with this «coalition» includes names well-known in the book world: Zmitser Kolas, Vaclau Bahdanovich, Ales Yaudakha (they are in Belarus), as well as Yaroslav Ivanyuk (a Belarusian from Podlachia, a Polish citizen), Ihar Lohvinau, and Andrei Yanushkevich (Belarusian citizens who left the country after 2021). The list also includes the websites and social media accounts of the publishing houses.

This decision is a continuation of the mass arrests of publishers and book distributors in Minsk that took place in February. At that time, publisher Zmitser Kolas, book distributor Ales Yaudakha, and head of «Technology» publishing house Vaclau Bahdanovich were detained, as well as a number of their relatives and employees of active and former publishing houses. All of them were initially sent to detention for administrative protocols, drawn up, as is common now, on fabricated grounds.

From the KGB's decision, it follows that at least three people are now facing criminal charges. They are likely transferred to the Kaliadyčy pre-trial detention center.

Here's what is known about them.

Zmitser Kolas — a brilliant translator of existentialism and absurdism

Павялічыць

Zmitser Kolas is a prominent figure in contemporary Belarusian book publishing and Belarusian culture in general.

He was born in Minsk in 1956 into the family of Georgy Kolas, a historian of culture, literary and theater critic, and author of books about Belarusian classics. His brother, Uladzimir Kolas, is a film director, educator, and long-time director of the Belarusian Lyceum.

Zmitser Kolas graduated from the translation faculty of the Minsk State Institute of Foreign Languages. After graduation, he worked for several years under contract in Algeria and Syria, where the Soviet Union was implementing numerous economic projects at the time. Returning to Minsk, he taught at the same institute where he once studied, teaching students literary translation.

In the 1980s, he was the first to make brilliant in quality and power translations into Belarusian of Camus, Sartre, Ionesco — authors who resonated with the atmosphere in Belarus at the time.

From the late 1980s, he increasingly linked his life with publishing. He published literature for schoolchildren at the Belarusian Humanitarian Lyceum. Later, he became the chief editor of the private publishing house «Encyclopedia». And then he created his own publishing house, which bore his name.

The «Zmitser Kolas» publishing house specialized in translating world literature — poetry, prose, and drama — into Belarusian. The «Poets of the Planet» series, which featured translations of poets from various countries around the world, gained particular fame. A total of more than 100 books were published in this collection.

The publishing house also released other intellectual texts — philosophy, humanities research, literary criticism. It published Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, François Rabelais, Charles Baudelaire, René Descartes, and other authors.

On March 4, 2023, he was detained by KGB officers and placed in the KGB pre-trial detention center. Kolas spent about ten days there, after which he was released without publicly announced charges. When he was detained, everyone wondered: what was this all about?

It later became clear: a coincidence. His detention occurred against the backdrop of mass interrogations and detentions after the sabotage at the Machulishchy military airfield in February 2023. At that time, law enforcement conducted extensive checks and detained people who might have had even indirect connections with the case figures: relatives, neighbors, colleagues.

Nevertheless, shortly after these events, the «Zmitser Kolas» publishing house announced the suspension of its activities. Several months later, in May 2023, the Economic Court of Minsk liquidated the publishing house at the suit of the Ministry of Information.

The formal reason for the lawsuit was a collection of historical documents published by Kolas, «»Liberated» and enslaved. The Polish-Belarusian borderland of 1939‑1941 in documents of Belarusian archives», which the authorities recognized as «extremist materials».

Ales Yaudakha — a bookseller of our time

Павялічыць

Ales Yaudakha is primarily known as a person who literally «delivered books.» He started book distribution in the second half of the 2000s. According to him, it was more of a cultural initiative than a business.

For independent publishers, this was an important additional distribution channel. «Belkniga,» which dominated the book distribution market, using its almost monopolistic position, charged publishers high percentages and did not return money for years. Working with Yaudakha, who honestly paid monthly, was a pleasure.

Moreover, not all books made it into state bookstores; they screened out «undesirable authors.»

Yaudakha effectively acted as an intermediary between publishers and readers: through him, one could order books by Belarusian authors, translations of world literature, historical and cultural publications.

At various times, Ales Yaudakha was repeatedly subjected to political persecution. For example, he was detained in a case formally related to tax issues of book distribution, but in fact, to the distribution of the book «Maladafrontaucy». Then he was tried and given «house chemistry» (a form of restricted freedom).

In 2017, Yaudakha was also detained in the so-called «White Legion Case.» At that time, the KGB accused Ales Yaudakha of «training or preparing individuals for participation in mass riots,» and later under an article related to participation in an armed formation. After some time, that fabricated case was closed, and the bookseller was released.

Ales Yaudakha is an example of a person who, despite not having even a higher education, understood the role of culture, books, and knowledge for people better than many «learned minds.»

Vaclau Bahdanovich — businessman and publisher

Павялічыць

Vaclau Bahdanovich is known in the Belarusian cultural sphere as a genealogy researcher and a person involved in the preparation of historical publications.

He was one of the participants in the work on the book «Bahdanovichy. History of one family» — a large-scale publication dedicated to the history of the Bahdanovich family. The book contains archival documents, family memoirs, photographs, and materials about representatives of the family who lived in different eras.

Bahdanovich headed the Minsk publishing house «Technology,» one of the first private ones, which had been operating since the late 1980s. It produced popular science, reference, and fiction books, as well as brochures and other printed materials. In addition to book publishing, the company was involved in the production of printing and souvenir products, as well as trade in medical equipment.

In February 2026, during mass detentions of book publishers and distributors in Minsk, security forces detained Vaclau Bahdanovich's entire family — himself, his wife Alena, and two daughters, Antanina and Viktoryia.

Later, his wife and one of his daughters were released. As for Bahdanovich himself and his daughter Viktoryia, there was no precise information about their status for a long time. The publishing house itself announced the cessation of its activities.

A new stage in the pogrom of Belarusian culture

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

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

Five days before that, he suddenly felt unwell, experiencing kidney problems. Afterwards, he suffered a stroke. He was transferred to intensive care but could not be saved. His death caused a flood of condolences and expressions of love and respect for his achievements on social media. The arrests of booksellers occurred a week after this.

Mass repressions in Belarus have continued since 2020. At that time, Aliaksandr Lukashenka lost to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya but did not cede power to her, instead forcing her to leave the country. This triggered mass popular protests, in which millions of people participated. In response, the authorities initiated 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. About 150,000 became victims of criminal and administrative prosecution. The cultural sphere was particularly hard hit.

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