Mikalai Mikalayevič Khalezin (; ; born 30 March 1964, Minsk, Belarusian SSR, USSR) is a Belarusian-British playwright and journalist, co-founder and art-director of the underground

Belarus Free Theatre The Belarus Free Theatre ( Belarusian: Свабодны тэатр, ''Svabodny teatr'') is a Belarusian underground theatre group. Following the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests, the BFT no longer has any presence in Belarus, with the remaining m ...

, dissident and a longtime critic of Belarusian president

Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (also transliterated as Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka; born 30 August 1954) is a Belarusian politician who has been the first and only president of Belarus since the office's establishment in 1994, making hi ...

Biography

Khalezin was born in Minsk in 1964. His father was a singer in the Belarusian State Philharmonic. In 1984, he entered Institute for National Economy in Minsk but quit after 2.5 or 3 years. In 1987–1991, he worked as a

scenographer A scenographer or scenic designer, also production designer, is a person who develops the appearance of a stage design, a TV or movie set, a gaming environment, a trade fair exhibition design or a museum experience exhibition design. The term ori ...

in the Alternative theatre in Minsk. In 1990, he created "Vita Nova" gallery of contemporary art. In 1994–2000, he worked in 3 non-government newspapers which were later forcibly closed for political reasons. For his activities he was detained 4 times and imprisoned once. In 2005, Khalezin and his wife Natalia Koliada founded deliberately underground

, and soon a stage director Uladzimir Shcherban joined them. In 2007, the whole troupe with the audience were arrested by Belarusian police during the play. According to Khalezin, former head of the presidential administration

Vladimir Makei Vladimir Vladimirovich Makei (; ; 5 August 1958 – 26 November 2022) was a Belarusian politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus from 2012 until his death in 2022. Early life and education Vladimir Makei was born on 5 Augu ...

tried to discredit his theatre for Khalezin's anti-Lukashenko activities. In 2011, the United Kingdom granted political asylum to Khalezin and his wife. In 2020, Khalezin became an active lobbyist of sanctions against the Belarusian regime. As of December 2020, Khalezin was an executive director of the Creative Politics Hub and lobbied the imposition of sanctions against supporters and close associates of Lukashenko. On 27 December 2020, Belarusian government newspaper '' Sovetskaya Belorussiya'' published an uncovered

death threat A death threat is a threat, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or group of people. These threats are often designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behaviour, in which case a d ...

to Khalezin and his wife ("We will definitely find you... and we will hang you, side-by-side"). A British foreign office spokeswoman condemned that threat. Khalezin and Kaliada expressed fears about possible assassination attempts but refused to stop their anti-Lukashenko activity. In 2021, Khalezin continued to collaborate with the Belarusian leader-in-exile

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya Sviatlana Hieorhiyeuna Tsikhanouskaya (; born 11 September 1982) is a Belarusian political activist. After standing as a candidate in the 2020 presidential election against the president Alexander Lukashenko, she has led the political opposit ...

participating in her visit to the United States of America in July 2021. As of 2013, he had 12 plays and over 200 publications in Belarus and abroad. As of 2021, he is a strategic development manager in the Belarusian Council for Culture (BY_CULTURE). He currently lives in London. Khalezin and Kaliada were both appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2023 Birthday Honours The 2023 King's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of King Charles III to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part ...

for services to theatre.

References

External links

Belarusian political dissidents on spreading their message of freedom: ‘We never know when our life will end’

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

Khalezin: Some kind of rat removed all parties that would hit Lukashenko hard from the EU sanctions list

Nasha Niva ''Nasha Niva'' (, lit. "Our field") is one of the oldest Belarusian weekly newspapers, founded in 1906 and re-established in 1991. ''Nasha Niva'' became a cultural symbol, due to the newspaper's importance as a publisher of Belarusian literature ...

/ Voice of Belarus
Тихановская, Халезин и Хомич в Берлине. Спецвыпуск ток-шоу DW "В самую точку"

Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khalezin, Mikalai Living people 1964 births People from Minsk Belarusian dramatists and playwrights British dramatists and playwrights Belarusian emigrants to the United Kingdom Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Members of the Order of the British Empire