I am an orphan, born in a Belarusian village, like my wife. We are an ordinary, honest and open-minded family with two children from the city of Minsk, which in August 2020 made its choice.
On August 9, I was detained by riot police at a protest march: they broke my arms, put me in ties and threw me into a truck. Together with the other detainees, we lay one on one. Then they took us to the TDF on Okrestina and put us in a small cell with about 15 of us in it. We were neither given food nor water. We were not allowed to go to the toilet. We felt cold and disgusted with our own powerlessness. We were beaten and humiliated — beaten to the point of exhaustion. I was released on the third day and was forced under pressure to sign a false report, without even being allowed to read it. Before I was released I was kicked and beaten again with truncheons.
I was walking home without shoes and outerwear, I was mentally depressed, but I knew that I would continue to go to all kinds of marches and seek the truth. I was fined and reimbursed for the “costs” of being held in a TDF. Then I had a disagreement with my bosses at work about absenteeism while I was in a detention center. They refused to pay me sick leave and listen to any explanations.
Later the company started having problems and they stopped paying our salaries: they gave us scanty wages, not even enough to buy the basic necessities. During this time we accumulated credit debts, debts to friends and acquaintances, debts for utilities. At the moment I am working, but the money is still not enough to live and pay debts. I get letters to the kindergarten saying that we have utility debts. I ask all not indifferent to help our family, because I know for sure that “sontsa abavyazkova zaglyane i u nashe vakontsa”.
How much is needed?
1000€ — to buy basic necessities; to provide for the lives of young children.