On May 18, 2021, I was detained by GUBOPIK near my home. The detention was brutal, they beat me, humiliated and threatened me. They forced me to write a repentance video from a text they had written. They searched my house and scared my little daughter, she sat behind the sofa for an hour. They found my strikeball stuff and tried to attach it to the case. In the video they showed them as weapons and said I was cooking something horrible…
After all this torture they gave me 15 days of administrative arrest. After that they gave me another 10 days. On June 10 they charged me under Article 342 part 1. They made me sign papers that contained more information about me, which wasn't in the charges, so they left themselves an opportunity to keep me further in suspense.
On September 21, 2021 the court of Zavodsky district of Minsk sentenced me to 2 years in a general regime colony. I arrived in the colony in January 2022. While still in quarantine I was deprived of a long-term visit and it was explained to me that political prisoners receive special treatment. During the entire period of my imprisonment I received only one letter from a stranger, not all letters from my wife were returned either. Later I was put in a punishment cell and they put a lot of psychological pressure on me. They prohibited other inmates from having anything to do with me and from communicating with me, and one guy was transferred to another unit because he became close to me. Before I was released I was kept in the punishment cell for 18 days and was not even allowed to leave my belongings to the people who needed them there and was not allowed to change or wash myself on the day of release.
I was told at the police department after I was released that I had to come there every day to get my registration papers until I found a job and every day I had to visit several offices and listen to brainwashing. I'm not allowed to leave Belarus, because they also put me on a lawsuit from Minsktrans and took my car. They also hinted to me that they would put a ban on the criminal case as well. That's why our family decided to flee the country, as we do not want to get into their hands again, and the likelihood of that is high.
How much is needed?
3100 € — rent an apartment for the first time (2-3 months, while we look for work and make documents); food; household items.