Aliaksandr
Birulia
Aliaksandr Birulia was born on July 1, 1978. Before his detention, he lived in the town of Salihorsk. Aliaksandr has a daughter he raises together with Tatsiana Birulia, who is also politically imprisoned.
Aliaksandr was detained in late 2021 over distributing underground newspapers criticizing the regime. He and other persons involved in the case were tried on several criminal charges. Aliaksandr was sentenced to 6 years of imprisonment and later designated as a “terrorist” and “extremist.”
Find Aliaksandr’s address on his PERSONAL PAGE at the Viasna Human Rights Center website. Click SEND A POSTCARD to support her and sign a postcard for the political prisoner.
Over the white lea #FreeAllWords
Over the white lea,
The winter’s chill sea,
In silence
And amid my cares,
Over my happiness
And my pain, yes,
As the months pass
And the years,
It flies, it quivers
And, ineffable, shimmers,
Shining black in the sky
Of my nativity –
My single, solitary,
Soundless company,
My one and only
Star of destiny.
I pray to it,
I’m scared of it.
I try to avoid it
Altogether.
The time will come when
I will stop and then
Under its starry gaze
Sleep forever.
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.
Translated from Belarusian by John Farndon and Hanna Komar for #FreeAllWords
Above the white field
Above the white field,
Wintry sea,
In silence
And among the troubles
Above my happiness
And pain
For months and for years
It floats , it trembles
It shines unutterably
On a black blanket of
Native heaven,
Lonely, mute,
My only Star — the fate of mine.
I pray
I fear
I’m trying to ignore it.
The time will come and
I will rest forever under
Its starry gaze.
And now I’m wandering the trail
Of the wild beast.
It is not scary anymore
Nor it is funny.
There’s no more distress
In how the songs around ‘ve been quieted down
And In how backbones crunch instead of songs,
At any place
Where on the eve
In the window of the jail
You shine for me.
In language and poems, in bright people that are in dark places, — Belarus Lives.
POEMS FROM PRISON IS A JOINT PROJECT OF THE FREEDOM POSTCARDS INITIATIVE AND People’s Embassy of Belarus in Brazil.
Katsiaryna
Andreyeva (Bakhvalava)
Katsiaryna Andreyeva (Bakhvalava) was born on November 2, 1993 in Minsk. Katsiaryna graduated from a Belarusian-language gymnasium and while still at school, she showed potential in foreign languages. Already for her first journalistic article, Katsiaryna became a laureate of the People's Reporter award. She has collaborated with Narodnaya Volya, Nasha Niva, RFE/RL Belarusian service, and joined Belsat, where she did live coverages and was repeatedly detained for this. In 2020, Katsiaryna published the book "Belarusian Donbas," co-authored with her husband Ihar Iliash, about Belarusians who participated in the Russian-Ukrainian war since 2014.
At the end of 2020, Katsiaryna and her colleague Darya Chultsova were detained when covering a protest rally at the "Square of Changes." Both journalists were sentenced to 2 years in prison for "organizing riots." Later, Katsiaryna was charged with "treason" and sentenced to 8 years in prison.
Find Katsiaryna's current address on her PERSONAL PAGE at the Viasna Human Rights Center website. Click SEND A POSTCARD to support her and sign a postcard for the political prisoner.
Above the white field
Above the white field,
Wintry sea,
In silence
And among the troubles
Above my happiness
And pain
For months and for years
It floats , it trembles
It shines unutterably
On a black blanket of
Native heaven,
Lonely, mute,
My only Star — the fate of mine.
I pray
I fear
I’m trying to ignore it.
The time will come and
I will rest forever under
Its starry gaze.
And now I’m wandering the trail
Of the wild beast.
It is not scary anymore
Nor it is funny.
There’s no more distress
In how the songs around ‘ve been quieted down
And In how backbones crunch instead of songs,
At any place
Where on the eve
In the window of the jail
You shine for me.
In language and poems, in bright people that are in dark places, — Belarus Lives.
POEMS FROM PRISON IS A JOINT PROJECT OF THE FREEDOM POSTCARDS INITIATIVE AND People’s Embassy of Belarus in Brazil.