In 2020, Nikolai* actively participated in protests. Two years later, in the summer of 2022, law enforcers came after him. “I don't know who denounced me — perhaps an acquaintance who was detained six months earlier, or the law enforcers found photos in the Instagram archive where I'm with a BCB-flag, showing a “finger” to the cops and blocking the roads,” he suggests.
First the guy was arrested for 15 days for reposting in TikTok, then he was charged under the criminal article.
“After these 24 hours, I was taken to the State Department of the police, there they beat me, poured water on me, jumped on my back with their feet,” says the ex-political prisoner. — After that I was charged and sent to a temporary detention center. I spent a few days there, and then I went straight to Zhodzina. The guards liked to wave their batons there, especially when they took us to the lawyer and back. Five months in the pre-trial detention center, and in December 2022 — the trial”.
Nikolai was given two and a half years of “home chemistry”, but the prosecutor filed an objection, demanding to replace the punishment with imprisonment. Then the guy decided to flee the country. “I did not wait for them to change the sentence. In January 2023, I was already in Lithuania,” he recalls.
In Lithuania, the Belarusian received refugee status, but the work did not work out — there were dishonest employers, working conditions were unbearable. “I was thrown at construction sites, at factories, wherever I was — nothing worked out.” In February 2025, he left for Poland, where he is now trying to settle down, but there are almost no funds left.
Now Nikolai is collecting money to rent a place to live for 2 months while he starts working, as well as to buy basic necessities and pay back debts that were left after the forced relocation. For this he needs 1580 euros. Of this, 800 will go towards rent, 500 for clothing and food expenses and 280 euros to pay back the debts that have accumulated during the forced moves.
“I have just found a job, but I am still living on debt. Now I need at least some financial support to pay for housing, clothes and basic things,” says Nikolai. “In 2020, my life, like the lives of thousands of Belarusians, has changed — and not for the better. But I believe that the solidarity of Belarusians will help me stay afloat during this difficult period.”
*The hero's name has been changed because his relatives in Belarus are under persecution.
How much is needed?
€1580
€800 — room rent for 3 months,
€500 — clothing and food,
€280 — debt repayment.