January 10, BPN. In a new attack on Belarusian-language publishers, a judge in Minsk has stripped the Januškievič publishing house of its license.
“Most likely, Article 33 of the law ‘On Publishing in the Republic of Belarus’ was applied,” said Knihaŭka, the publisher’s Telegram channel. “If we’re not mistaken, it happened for the first time in recent history.”
The article regulates termination of state-issued publishing licenses.
Law enforcers searched Januškievič’s bookstore Knihaŭka on the day of its opening, May 16, seizing a translation of George Orwell’s 1984 and other books.
Founder Andrej Januškievič and bookstore clerk, literary scholar Anastasija Karnackaja were detained and sentenced to several jail terms (Januškievič served a total of 28 days; Karnackaja, 23 days). The founder has fled the country.
As early as March 22, the landlord had demanded that the publishing house vacate its office. Januškievič relocated to Poland and resumed its operation in October 2022.
In April and May 2022, the Belarusian Ministry of Information suspended the publishing houses Medisont, Halijafy, Limarius and Knihazbor, all of which which printed books in Belarusian.
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