{"id":581204,"date":"2026-09-24T19:34:55","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T16:34:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reform.news\/?p=581204"},"modified":"2026-09-25T11:12:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T08:12:13","slug":"nine-months-in-captivity-for-a-belarusian-album-ales-chumakou-describes-persecution-and-imprisonment-over-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/nine-months-in-captivity-for-a-belarusian-album-ales-chumakou-describes-persecution-and-imprisonment-over-music","title":{"rendered":"Nine Months in Captivity for a Belarusian Album: Ales Chumakou Describes Persecution and Imprisonment Over Music"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Belarusian bard, musician and traditional instrument maker Ales Chumakou<\/strong> gave an extensive interview to the Viasna Human Rights Center in which he spoke in detail about his arrest, conditions in pre-trial detention and the circumstances of his criminal prosecution.<\/p>\n

Ales Chumakou was detained on November 28, 2025. The criminal case and his nine months of imprisonment stemmed from the recording of a new 13-track folk album created with support from listeners and the Belarusian Council for Culture. According to the security forces, his work on Belarusian folk songs and use of traditional instruments were regarded as “actions aimed at destabilizing the constitutional order.”<\/p>\n

After his detention, the musician was brutally tortured, resulting in thermal burns and nerve damage.<\/p>\n

The musician recalls how he survived in a concrete punishment cell, where he had to sleep on the floor; how he lost teeth in captivity while being subjected to propaganda about “poor conditions in Latvia” and was driven mad by Russian pop music; and how, for nine months non-stop, he dreamed of his concerts unfolding in real time. Ales also says when the album that led to his imprisonment will finally be released in exile.<\/p>\n

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Photo: spring96.org.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Detention: “There He Is, Budkin! We’ve Found Everything, You’re Ours”<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The operation to detain Ales Chumakou took place on November 28, 2025. Security officers tricked him into leaving his apartment, which ultimately gave the musician an opportunity to put on warm clothes.<\/p>\n

“The detention on November 28 was unexpected. Although they later said they had been watching me for about ten months. They didn’t break down the door. They very politely called me outside, pretending to be neighbors who had supposedly scratched my car. That saved me in many ways! Later, at Akrestsina, I saw people whom GUBAZIK had detained wearing nothing but a shirt \u2014 it’s cold there, and they immediately get sick. But I had a chance to get properly dressed while waiting for the ‘traffic police’ to arrive: thermal underwear, several layers of clothing, double socks.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Instead of neighbors or traffic police officers, the musician was met by security operatives, who immediately began searching for evidence of his “extremist activities” in the digital space.<\/p>\n

“I stepped outside, and there they very carefully took me by the arm, led me back inside, bent me over and immediately asked: ‘Where’s your phone?’ They showed me KGB identification and asked whether I understood why I was being detained. On my phone, they immediately, literally within a second, started searching for Siarhei Budkin. Even though over 20 years of knowing each other, we had never exchanged more than a couple of messages. They found the contact, shoved the phone in my face: ‘There he is, Budkin! We’ve found everything, you’re ours.'”<\/em><\/p>\n

A search then began at Ales’s home, during which officers created a mess and made cynical jokes.<\/p>\n

Ales Chumakou spent the first hours after his detention in KGB offices, where operatives examined the contacts on his phone and created the illusion that he would soon be released. The interrogations lasted for many hours. Later, he was taken to a district police department to draw up a formal administrative offense report.<\/p>\n

Interrogation at the Investigative Committee: From Article 342 to the Belarusian Council for Culture<\/h3>\n

After serving his administrative detention, Ales Chumakou was not released. His status was changed to that of a suspect in a criminal case, and he was taken to the Investigative Committee for questioning.<\/p>\n

“When my administrative detention at the Akrestsina detention center ended and I hoped I would be going home, the same KGB officers met me at the exit. They said: ‘That’s it, you’re coming with us again. Don’t expect to go home.’ Around the corner, they put me in a van, forced me onto my knees and made me ride on the floor all the way to the Investigative Committee.”<\/em><\/p>\n

When it came to the substance of the charges, investigators tried to accuse Ales under the standard set of politically motivated articles. At the same time, his state-appointed lawyer showed complete indifference to her client’s fate.<\/p>\n

After allegations of participation in protests fell apart due to a lack of evidence, investigators focused on finding links between the musician and independent cultural initiatives.<\/p>\n

“They started asking me about the ‘Da Zorau’ initiative (they attached it to the Belarusian Council for Culture). I had never heard of it in my life. At first I took the name ‘Da Zorau’ as one word and thought of Sergei Lukyanenko: Night Watch, Day Watch \u2014 all these vampires have gathered here to drink my blood! But it turned out that my real signature was there \u2014 perhaps I signed it after a concert without looking.<\/em><\/p>\n

Eventually, when I started talking about myself, explaining that I am a musician and musical instrument maker and that I don’t engage in politics, the investigator suddenly said: ‘I’m bored.’ And then the KGB officers took me by the arms and led me to the van. They decided to ‘have some fun’ so that this girl wouldn’t be bored.”<\/em><\/p>\n

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Photo: spring96.org.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thermal Burns and Threats of Rape: Torture in the Van<\/h3>\n

The transfer from the Investigative Committee to the detention center was accompanied by physical violence and threats of a sexual nature. KGB officers deliberately injured the musician using special equipment.<\/p>\n

“In the van, they put me back on the floor, which was covered in something foul-smelling and wet. They raised my handcuffed hands behind my back toward the ceiling so far that my shoulder joints were twisted. I have scoliosis and sports injuries to my shoulders \u2014 the pain was unbearable.<\/em><\/p>\n

Then one man held my hands while another took a construction lighter \u2014 the kind that produces not just a flame but a pressurized jet of gas. He started heating the handcuffs until they burned me. Thermal burns! When I tried to twist away from the jet, I would hit the metal nozzle of the lighter. The burns and marks on my hands took nine months to disappear.<\/em><\/p>\n

On a side seat sat a KGB officer who had played the ‘bad cop’ during my detention. He was wearing special reinforced boots, some kind of combat boots intended specifically for this procedure (none of the others wore anything like them). And he beat me the entire way from the Investigative Committee to Akrestsina. Every three to five seconds, I was hit on the head: from behind, from the front, from above. And throughout all of this, they weren’t just beating me \u2014 they were also threatening to rape me. Then he started kicking me. The entire right side of my body \u2014 leg, side, arm \u2014 was blue with bruises. One blow from a reinforced boot landed directly on my elbow. My central nerve stopped functioning, and two fingers simply stopped working. Sensation returned only four months later. In pre-trial detention, I couldn’t hold a pen or even pick up backgammon dice \u2014 they kept falling out of my hands.”<\/em><\/p>\n

“I Hadn’t Slept Properly for 24 Days”: Punishment Cell at Akrestsina<\/h3>\n

After the beating, Ales was taken to the temporary detention facility at Akrestsina, where he was held in an overcrowded punishment cell with unsanitary conditions and insufficient sleeping space.<\/p>\n

“After the torture in the van, I was brought to the Akrestsina detention facility, beaten all over, now as part of the criminal case. I spent seven out of ten days in a concrete punishment cell. It was about the size of a small kitchen. There were between seven and nine of us in there. In the middle was a blue metal-and-wood stool bolted to the floor, which we all hated because it blocked the entire space. Only three or four people could lie down on either side of the stool. The rest sat curled up under the sink, on the raised platform around the toilet, or leaning against the wall in front of the bars, where you could catch at least a little air from the corridor.<\/em><\/p>\n

The day was divided into two stages. In the morning, after the night, the stuffiness was terrible \u2014 we hung in clusters from the bars and breathed through the gaps. During the day it became cold, and we sat huddled together, our teeth chattering. There is no wall around the toilet. If someone needs to use it, he steps onto the platform and says: ‘Guys, important procedure, please turn around!’ And everyone stands with their backs turned, looking at the tiny window near the ceiling.<\/p>\n

I hadn’t slept properly for 24 days. When they finally took me to be transferred to the pre-trial detention center, I looked in the mirror and didn’t recognize myself. My face was green. Every blood vessel was visible through my colorless skin, like that fish that lives at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. And there were black circles around my eyes. It was a horror movie.”<\/p>\n

Admission to Pre-Trial Detention: “I’m Not Taking Someone This Pretty”<\/h3>\n

The transfer to the pre-trial detention center included a medical examination that was purely a formality.<\/p>\n

“When they brought me to the pre-trial detention center in Kalyadzichy, the local paramedic looked at my hematomas and bruises and said: ‘Oh, I’m not taking someone this pretty!’ I had to go to the neighboring office to see a major. He calmly wrote a note saying that I had supposedly ‘resisted during detention and that’s why I got these injuries,’ and signed it. We went back to the paramedic \u2014 he said ‘Okay’ and admitted me. But they still kept me in quarantine for more days than people are normally held there.”<\/em><\/p>\n

“I’ve Never Seen Radiators This Tiny in My Life”: Conditions in Kalyadzichy and the Tightening of Restrictions<\/h3>\n

Conditions in the pre-trial detention center steadily deteriorated as new restrictions were introduced, reports were regularly filed for minor violations, and proper outdoor exercise was unavailable.<\/p>\n

“Conditions in the detention center keep changing for the worse \u2014 they keep ‘tightening the screws.’ Every month there’s something new: you’re not allowed to sit on the bed, then you’re not allowed to watch television (which only worked for two of the nine months anyway), then you’re not allowed to keep soap dishes on the sink, then you’re not allowed to dry clothes. Dry them wherever you want, even inside a bag so they can rot in there. They write reports for everything. One man got a report simply because, while sitting at the table, he rested the soles of his feet against the edge of the bed.”<\/em><\/p>\n

In addition to endless everyday restrictions and the threat of disciplinary reports, the physical conditions of detention themselves became another ordeal. Cold cells were combined with the absence of proper outdoor exercise, while everyday life was organized entirely according to the guards’ absurd logic.<\/p>\n

“The cells were very cold. The radiator had only three sections. I’ve never seen radiators this tiny for a room that size in my life! What they call an exercise ‘yard’ simply misleads people. It’s the same bare concrete cell as the one we sit in, and there is never actually any sky above your head. There’s just a little more air because instead of a concrete ceiling there’s polycarbonate. It’s supposedly transparent, but in reality you can’t see a damn thing through it. At first they took us there once a week, and then even less often \u2014 once every ten days. Being assigned to these yards is a lottery. Eight people could be thrown into a yard designed for two. In general, we called the local staff by colors: ‘the green ones,’ ‘the blue ones,’ ‘the black ones.’ It made things easier, so everyone immediately understood who we were talking about. And I asked one of the young ‘green ones’ (the guards who organized the walks): ‘Why not put eight people in the eight-person yard and two in the two-person one?’ The answer was like something from an army joke: ‘We do it the way it’s done. You’re causing disorder here!'”<\/em><\/p>\n

“Another special kind of hell is smoking in the cells. Smoking is prohibited during exercise, so everyone smokes by the toilet (a hole in the floor separated by a one-meter wooden partition). Six out of eight people might be smokers. There’s virtually no ventilation. The smoke was so thick you couldn’t see your cellmate. We joked like in the cartoon Hedgehog in the Fog: ‘Seryoga, I can’t see you! Hedgehog! Horsey!’ I brought freshly washed clothes home in sealed bags, and they still reek of that cigarette smoke.”<\/em><\/p>\n

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While in pre-trial detention, Ales Chumakou prepared “prison currency” \u2014 cigarettes \u2014 when he was getting ready to be transferred to a penal colony. Photo: spring96.org.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Psychological Pressure: Spotlight in the Face, Russian Pop Music and Dreams of Concerts<\/h3>\n

In addition to harsh living conditions, the detention center administration used sensory pressure: constant lighting and loud music that prevented the nervous system from recovering.<\/p>\n

“Sound and light are a separate form of abuse. At Akrestsina, the radio played all day, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Once they even switched it on at full volume at three in the morning \u2014 maybe it was a mistake, or maybe they wanted to torment someone. In the pre-trial detention center, they forcibly turn the radio on in the mornings and during exercise. It sounds terrible through a metal speaker that is absolutely not designed for music. And it’s constantly the same thing \u2014 Russian pop mixed with foreign music. For me, someone raised on folk and rock, it was hellish torture.<\/em><\/p>\n

And there is simply no chance of sleeping peacefully and recovering. You can’t close your eyes during the day; the surveillance camera operates 24\/7, and they immediately shout over the loudspeaker: ‘Who’s sleeping there?! Give your last name! Report.’ At night, the ‘moon’ constantly shines in your face \u2014 a bright white LED spotlight. No matter how you cover yourself or wrap clothes around your head, you still can’t sleep properly. You just close your eyes and watch a movie while hovering on the edge of wakefulness.<\/em><\/p>\n

For nine months non-stop, I dreamed of long conversations with friends over a mug of tea. I dreamed entire concerts in real time \u2014 following the set list from the first song to the last! I would be standing on stage playing and singing, hearing all the arrangements and instruments, turning toward each of the musicians, then we’d return to the dressing room, the afterparty. In that dream you’re actually doing things, your body keeps functioning without being able to switch off. That’s not rest at all.”<\/em><\/p>\n

The Library and the Book Lottery<\/h3>\n

Reading remained the only legal way to pass the time in the cell. However, the system for ordering books operated according to its own unpredictable rules.<\/p>\n

“The library there is good; I read a huge number of books. From classics to contemporary works, from Tolstoy to Ayn Rand. They have Uladzimir Karatkevich and Vasil Bykau. We were warned right away: Sviatlana Alexievich is officially banned there, so don’t submit requests for her books.<\/em><\/p>\n

But it’s almost impossible to influence what they bring you \u2014 it’s a lottery. As required, once a month we diligently submitted a general request from the cell listing what we wanted to read. Then, on the librarian’s advice, we submitted separate requests for a specific book throughout the month. In my case, those pieces of paper never worked even once. For other people, they randomly worked once or twice over the entire nine months. In other words, there was no point in submitting those requests at all. They simply brought random books. Only once did they bring me, as agreed, the second volume of a book after I’d read the first \u2014 they really did respond to the request that time. But fortunately, even the random books they brought were good works of literature.”<\/em><\/p>\n

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Photo: spring96.org.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Medical Care in Detention: “Just Like in Latvia”<\/h3>\n

Medical care in detention facilities was limited to basic medication, while requests to see specialists were ignored for months.<\/p>\n

“When people get sick, at best they’re given ibuprofen. Once I got really sick: fever, loss of smell \u2014 COVID-like symptoms. I wrote a desperate request for bed rest. They took me to the medical unit and forgot me in the corridor. I stood facing the wall for three hours with my hands behind my back. All the doctors had already left. Three ‘green ones’ walked past, and one laughed: ‘Imagine this, I look into the medical unit and they’ve forgotten a prisoner there! Can you imagine what a mess we’ve got here!’<\/em><\/p>\n

When they finally took me to the doctor, she looked at me and said: ‘I’m not going to take your temperature. Just looking at you, you don’t look like you need bed rest!’<\/em><\/p>\n

Because of the ice-cold water (straight from the well, basically) and hot prison food that had to be eaten quickly, my teeth cracked and my fillings fell out. My hearing began to deteriorate. My requests to see an ENT specialist were ignored for four months.<\/em><\/p>\n

The funniest thing was that at the same time, propaganda television was broadcasting: ‘And in Latvia, prisoners aren’t allowed to see doctors! They wipe their asses with prisoners’ requests!’ That phrase \u2014 ‘just like in Latvia’ \u2014 took on a whole new meaning for us.”<\/p>\n

Trial: Belarusian Song as Extremism<\/h3>\n

During the trial, the evidence and arguments presented by the defense were disregarded. Musical activity was classified as a crime against the state.<\/p>\n

“The trial was reminiscent of the Soviet 1930s: it doesn’t matter what you did or whether you did anything at all. If they’ve been told to shoot you, they’ll shoot you. It wasn’t a trial, it was like communicating with robots: they’re programmed ‘1, 2, 3, 4,’ and it makes absolutely no difference what you tell them.<\/em><\/p>\n

The prosecutor herself said that to bring charges, you have to prove intent and awareness. But I was accused of ‘joining’ the Belarusian Council for Culture. I replied: I don’t even know who’s on it! In any other country, they would have had to prove it, but here they simply ignored that. Instead, at the KGB they forced me to sign a piece of paper saying that I had ‘organized people with the aim of destabilizing the constitutional order’ by singing folk songs. That was enough for them.<\/em><\/p>\n

So officially, I was convicted for recording an album of songs played on Belarusian folk instruments. The security forces latched onto the support from the Belarusian Council for Culture, but can that ridiculous amount really be called money for recording an album? Most of the funding came from my own pocket and from my listeners. Folk isn’t rap or pop \u2014 you don’t make money from it. It’s about creating the roots and pillars of culture; it’s something that requires subsidies.<\/em><\/p>\n

There are 13 tracks on the album. They include well-known songs from the repertoire of, for example, Pesniary, as well as unique regional folk songs. There is nothing extremist in it! But what should have been broadcast on state television channels became direct evidence of a crime in the eyes of the authorities.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Today and the Future<\/h3>\n

Ales was pardoned along with other political prisoners on September 16, 2026, as a result of negotiations between US Special Envoy John Coale and Lukashenka. After his release and forced deportation, Ales found himself in Warsaw. He is now focused on recovering his health and preparing to release the album that led to his imprisonment.<\/p>\n

“I’m in Warsaw now, sorting out my documents for the time being. Invite me to house concerts \u2014 I’ll gladly come, we’ll sing and talk.<\/em><\/p>\n

I need to see doctors, get an MRI, and find out what’s happening with my hearing. For a musician, losing your hearing is a tragedy. I’ll manage somehow. If necessary, I’ll play Beethoven, but I’d like to preserve what I still have.<\/em><\/p>\n

And my 13-track album, with unique regional versions of well-known songs, is already finished. We planned to release it last New Year. Well, we’ll be a year late. It will come out this autumn. Perhaps right around the anniversary of my detention.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Read the full article here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Subscribe to Reform.news cultural news<\/a> on Telegram<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Belarusian bard, musician and traditional instrument maker Ales Chumakou gave an extensive interview to the Viasna Human Rights Center in which he spoke in detail about his arrest, conditions in pre-trial detention and the circumstances of his criminal prosecution. Ales Chumakou was detained on November 28, 2025. The criminal case and his nine months of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":581195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sharing_image":{"poster":"https:\/\/reform.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/6ab62ce158123.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"template":"691142dd","mode":"auto"},"_sharing_image_fieldset":{"dTVKfmI95PYT":"Nine Months in Captivity for a Belarusian Album: Ales Chumakou Describes Persecution and Imprisonment Over Music"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[142375,142338],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-581204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-news"],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=581204"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":581238,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581204\/revisions\/581238"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/581195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}