My brother is one of the members of BYPOL, an organization of former security forces in Belarus who are fighting the Lukashenko regime that illegally seized power after rigging the August 2020 elections. My brother has been recognized as a terrorist and has been the subject of numerous criminal cases brought against him by the KGB. I also believe that Lukashenko rigged the election and illegally seized power.
From August 2020 until the end of the year I took part in several protests, I was also at the funeral of Taraikovsky, who was killed by the authorities. I didn't hide my views in social networks. I lived with my family: my wife and two young children, in my apartment in Minsk. On May 15, 2021 at 7 a.m. someone rang the doorbell and said it was the police. I opened the door. There were about 15 people in dark clothes with balaclavas on their faces, wearing civilian clothes and weapons. They rudely burst into the apartment. They refused to show their IDs.
They said it was revenge for my brother and now they would prosecute me, and now they would conduct a search. They showed me a search warrant on behalf of the KGB. During the search they turned the entire apartment upside down, threw things on the floor, overturned the furniture, and scared my children. During the search they seized $1,100, my and my wife's cell phones, a laptop, hard drives, bank cards, they also took the car and its documents and said they would check for forged documents and a bodging number. They didn't give me the search report and said I had to come to the KGB building on Komsomolskaya Street and tell the officer the number of the criminal case and an investigator would meet me.
After the search they demanded I go with them to search my brother's apartments. They broke down the doors to the apartments and with hammers and axes smashed everything inside: the furniture, the walls, the tiles. They took everything that belonged to the police service.
I was shocked by what happened and I didn't sleep at home for two nights, because they said they would come for my wife and me soon and that their children would be sent to an orphanage.
I borrowed money from some friends, bought plane tickets, and flew to Ukraine alone. The next day my wife and children joined me. We left all our belongings in Belarus and decided to flee, because I realized that I would be “put in jail,” although I had committed no crime. Also, when they looked through my passport the officers saw my Czech visa, they scratched it and wet it with something, so I couldn't leave Belarus.
In Kiev we received humanitarian Polish visas together with my family and came to Warsaw. On June 20, I left to work in the Czech Republic. My wife and children weren't allowed to stay with me (a visa can be issued only in Belarus, where I can't go back). My earnings are barely enough for food and my accommodation in a hostel in the Czech Republic. My wife is currently unemployed and lives in Poland with my children at her friends' place and has no money for renting an apartment.
How much is needed?
3100 € — rent for 6 months.