Svetlana Alexievich's bank account frozen

German authorities have blocked the bank account of Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich. After security forces came to her home in Minsk in 2020, the writer moved to Berlin. Now her residence permit, issued by the German authorities at the time, has expired. And the account was blocked on this basis.

"The blocking of Svetlana Alexievich's account is not an exceptional case, but a very common situation, it happens to a large number of Belarusians who for one reason or another do not have time to renew their residence permit in time," the head of Belarusian PEN Tatsiana Niadbai told Euroradio. "Svetlana was told in the bank that these are restrictions that apply to Belarusians and Russians - because of the war. The problem is not that this should not happen to a Nobel laureate - everyone should be treated equally - it should not happen to anyone. We need a change of approach for those who had to leave Belarus because of persecution, but who continue to work for democracy.

Alexievich will receive a new residence permit at the beginning of April 2023. In a fight with the famous German bureaucracy - the bureaucracy won.

Svetlana Alexievich is 74 years old. She is a famous Belarusian writer. In 2015, Alexievich received the Nobel Prize in Literature "for her polyphonic work - a monument to suffering and courage in our time". She was and still is critical of the current regime in Belarus. In 2020, Svetlana Alexievich was a member of the Coordinating Council in Belarus and was threatened with prosecution. Last year, the writer's books were reviewed in Belarus "for extremism".