Pavel
Belavus

Pavel Belavus was born on August 22, 1987, in Lida. He has co-founded and run the Art Syadziba cultural site and the Symbal.by store of national symbols, clothes, and souvenirs. Pavel has also worked as a journalist, contributing to the RFE/RL Belarusian service. In 2018, he was an active participant in the public campaign to recognize the white-red-white flag as a historical and cultural asset and co-organized the BNR-100 Freedom Day concert. In 2020, with the BNR-100 team, Pavel launched the Hodna campaign, and in August he joined the Coordination Council.

For his public activities, Pavel has been repeatedly persecuted, including punished in administrative cases. He has been under arrest on criminal charges since November 2021.

Find Pavel's current address on his PERSONAL PAGE at the Viasna Human Rights Center website. Click SEND A POSTCARD to support him and sign a postcard for the political prisoner.

"There are no friends or strangers here..."

There are no friends or strangers here

Like a curse everyone carries their own pain

And a punch in the guts

Multiplies the truth by zero

 

Here the hope is like the rumble of a tram

That runs through the day-to-day captivity:

Either the way home is awaiting us 

Or we’ll be crushed on the rails

 

Not capable of hiding distrust here

Nor finding any tenderness in their eyes

Because while some are building their career

Others are trying to commit a suicide

 

Friendship here is like a cigarette smoke

It fades away — the stub falls to the bucket

There are no secrets worthy to be told 

It’s better not to trust, not to believe in good

 

A cup of hot tea warms me up

A noise from the window calls me outside

When the path to freedom is closed,

Just build it in your head.

In language and poems, in bright people that are in dark places, — Belarus Lives.

Pavel
Belavus

Pavel Belavus was born on August 22, 1987, in Lida. He has co-founded and run the Art Syadziba cultural site and the Symbal.by store of national symbols, clothes, and souvenirs. Pavel has also worked as a journalist, contributing to the RFE/RL Belarusian service. In 2018, he was an active participant in the public campaign to recognize the white-red-white flag as a historical and cultural asset and co-organized the BNR-100 Freedom Day concert. In 2020, with the BNR-100 team, Pavel launched the Hodna campaign, and in August he joined the Coordination Council.

For his public activities, Pavel has been repeatedly persecuted, including punished in administrative cases. He has been under arrest on criminal charges since November 2021.

Find Pavel's current address on his PERSONAL PAGE at the Viasna Human Rights Center website. Click SEND A POSTCARD to support him and sign a postcard for the political prisoner.

"There are no friends or strangers here..."

There are no friends or strangers here

Like a curse everyone carries their own pain

And a punch in the guts

Multiplies the truth by zero

 

Here the hope is like the rumble of a tram

That runs through the day-to-day captivity:

Either the way home is awaiting us 

Or we’ll be crushed on the rails

 

Not capable of hiding distrust here

Nor finding any tenderness in their eyes

Because while some are building their career

Others are trying to commit a suicide

 

Friendship here is like a cigarette smoke

It fades away — the stub falls to the bucket

There are no secrets worthy to be told 

It’s better not to trust, not to believe in good

 

A cup of hot tea warms me up

A noise from the window calls me outside

When the path to freedom is closed,

Just build it in your head.

In language and poems, in bright people that are in dark places, — Belarus Lives.