Belarus Sentences Famed Translator to Two Years’ House Arrest
PEN America today called the sentence cruel and wholly unwarranted
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 26, 2021
(New York, NY) A court in Belarus this week sentenced translator Volha Kalackaja to two years of house arrest after a one-day trial. Kalackaja who has translated the works of Margaret Atwood, Virginia Woolf, Tennessee Williams, and William Golding was first arrested in January after taking part in peaceful demonstrations in Minsk neighborhood. She was charged with “malicious hooliganism” and held in pre-trial detention for two months. PEN America today said the sentence is cruel and wholly unwarranted.
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A woman holds a sign with an image of Belarusian President Lukashenko that reads “Next stop: The Hague” (referring to the International Criminal Court), during a solidarity protest by Belarusians living in exile, Hamburg, Germany, 15 August 2020, Markus Scholz/picture alliance via Getty Images A monthly chronology of repression and resistance in Belarus, based on the work of IFEX members and other international and domestic actors.
The rigged presidential election of August 2020 sparked a huge wave of popular protest that swept across Belarus, bringing together people from all sections of society in a call for President Lukashenko’s ouster and new elections. The authorities’ response was a crackdown of such magnitude and brutality that it grabbed headlines around the world. Tens of thousands of peaceful protesters were detained, as well as hundreds of journalists and members of civil society organisations. There were credible reports of
The German association of publishers and booksellers cites a ‘wave of threats against publishers, booksellers, translators, and writers’ in Belarus, in a sharply worded new statement.
Alexander Lukashenko was pictured in this shot from the May 9, 2020, parade honoring the 75th anniversary of the end of the ‘Great Patriotic War’–the term used in Russia and some former Soviet satellites for the World War II conflict between the Soviet Union and Germany. The 2020 parade in Minsk was held three months before the now-disputed reelection of Lukashenko. Image – iStockphoto: Ruslan Kaln
Also: European writers and translators demand action for Belarus from ministries of culture
PEN America Demands Immediate Release of Belarusian Translator Volha Kalackaja
PEN America Demands Immediate Release of Belarusian Translator Volha Kalackaja
Author Margaret Atwood says Belarus must halt its cruel assault on those seeking democracy
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 17, 2021
(New York, NY) The Friday detention of the Belarusian translator Volha Kalackaja is yet another alarming example of the increasing crackdown on the creative community in Belarus, PEN America said today, and she must immediately be released and any charges against her dropped.
Kalackaja has translated books by Margaret Atwood, Virginia Woolf, Tennessee Williams, and William Golding into Belarusian, as well as providing translations for films and cartoons. Since the beginning of mass protests in Belarus, following the rigged presidential elections last August, Kalackaja has been supporting peaceful demonstrators in her neighborhood.
Police officers detain a demonstrator during a protest in support of the detained opposition figure Alexei Navalny, St Petersburg, Russia, 31 January 2021, Peter KovalevTASS via Getty Images January 2021 in Europe and Central Asia: A free expression round up produced by IFEX s Regional Editor Cathal Sheerin, based on IFEX member reports and news from the region.
January saw the arrest of Alexei Navalny spark massive protests across Russia and an incredibly brutal response by the authorities. It saw injustice continuing to flourish in Turkey and another blow against women in Poland. It was also a month of fairytales and aqua discos.
Record numbers arrested at Navalny-inspired protests