Фота: сацсеткі музыканта.
Today, April 4, marks the birthday of Belarusian folk-modern legend, founder of the band Palats and political prisoner Aleh Khamenka. This year, the musician is marking the occasion not on stage or among friends, but in pre-trial detention.
According to Radio Svaboda, Aleh is currently being held at the Minsk pre-trial detention centre in Kaliadzichy, where he is awaiting consideration of his appeal.
“He did not agree with the sentence and hopes it will be overturned. But very little is known about how the trial proceeded: people, including musicians from the capital, are afraid to attend such trials,” a source told Svaboda.
On March 4, the musician was sentenced to three years in prison and handed a large fine for “facilitating extremist activity” through cooperation with Radio Racyja.
According to the source, Aleh has not filed complaints about the conditions of his detention.
“Correspondence is ongoing, but there is no information in his letters about the details of his stay in the detention centre,” the source told Svaboda.
“He will turn 60 next year, so his health is what you would expect. But the necessary medicines are reaching him there. His moral state can also be imagined — arrest at that age is especially difficult, but it would be wrong to say that he has completely lost his footing. He is holding on,” the source added.
Aleh Khamenka is one of Belarus’ most prominent musicians. As the founder of Palats, a folk-modern group that burst onto the Belarusian scene in the 1990s and changed its face, he became a defining figure in the country’s music. Palats hits including “Rusalki”, “Yak Paidu Ya U Novuyu Kanyushnyu”, “Kola Hrukatala”, “Oi, Bozha Zh, Moi Bozha”, “Kaliada” and “Darozhka” combine distinctive authentic vocals with bold and innovative arrangements of old Belarusian songs. Palats also gained international recognition, taking part over the years in festivals such as Slavianski Bazaar in Belarus, Basovishcha in Poland, Tanz und Folkfest in Germany, Aziya Dauysy in Kazakhstan, Suklegas in Lithuania, Maladzechna, Rock-Coronation in Belarus, Kraina Mrii in Ukraine, Bela Music in Belarus and many others. The group has received numerous music awards and prizes.
Aleh Khamenka is trained as a cultural studies specialist and taught for many years at the Belarusian Institute of Culture and Arts.
The artist also has extensive experience as a radio host. For many years, Aleh Khamenka hosted the radio version of the Tuzin.fm chart show. He also presented the programme Brama Isnasci on Autoradio until the station was shut down for political reasons on January 12, 2011. His author programme Folk-Brama aired on Radio Racyja. After 2020, the regime designated the outlet as extremist, and it was for cooperation with the station that Aleh Khamenka was convicted.
To learn more about one of Belarus’ most outstanding bands, readers are encouraged to watch the episode of Ministerstva Sepultury by music journalist Aliaksandr Charnukha, dedicated to Palats.
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