The cultural manager did not leave Belarus after the start of mass repressions. He was arrested at the end of 2021. Pavel Belavus was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Today he was released.
The cultural manager became part of a group of political prisoners released on September 16 after the arrival of an American delegation in Minsk.
Belavus was detained on November 15, 2021, after being summoned to the police. After that, the activist was held for 24‑hour detentions three times — totaling 35 days. He was then transferred to a pre-trial detention center, where he was charged with criminal offenses.
Pavel was convicted under four criminal articles: Art. 342 (participation in protests), Art. 361 (calls for sanctions), Art. 361‑1 (creation of or participation in an extremist formation), and Art. 356 (treason). The final sentence was 13 years of imprisonment.
Belavus served his sentence in correctional colony No. 17 in Shklov.
His wife and two children were waiting for him to be released.
Pavel Belavus was born in Lida in 1987. He graduated from the geographical faculty of Brest State University, and became interested in journalism and activism already in his youth.
In the early 2010s, he worked as a journalist for Radio Svaboda. Belavus is also one of the organizers of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the BPR in 2018, and the founder and former director of the creative space 'Art Siadziba'.
In 2014, Belavus founded the national symbols shop Symbal.by, which gained particular prominence in the summer of 2020. At that time, the shop sold T-shirts and stickers with the inscription 'PSYCHOSIS%' — a reference to Lukashenka's statements about 'coronavirus psychosis' and the idea of Lukashenka's 3% approval rating.
The authorities began to pressure Symbal.by, and the shop had to close. Dozens of Belarusians came to support the shop on its last day of operation — the queue was then brutally dispersed by security forces.
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