In 2023, I was sentenced to 2 years in an Open Type Correctional Colony (OTC). If you don't know what an Open Penal Colony is, just imagine that I was taken into slavery for 2 years for a comment I wrote about Lukashenka in 2020.
I was sent to work on a collective farm as an auxiliary laborer. I had to do the dirtiest work and plug all the holes for very little money. Mostly I was engaged in hand-boarding tractor wheels and cleaning cowsheds. We worked 30 days a month and no one cared about our health or days off. You could not refuse such work — you would be sent to a real colony.
With great scandal I managed to find a better place, but I didn't last long there — only about 2 months. The director got a call from above and explained that all the “political” should “clean up the mess”, and I was brought back. And even more than that: the head of IUOT began to take a keen interest in me and pick on me for any little thing. And there is a rule: 4 violations, and the case is referred to the court to change the detention regime to a stricter one. So, I spent the last six months of my term in the penal colony as a persistent violator of discipline.
All this time my family (my wife and 2 children) was without a breadwinner. My mom helped them as much as she could, but at my age I am ashamed to rely on my retired mom. So I borrowed money so that my family would be provided for while I washed cows on the collective farm.
And now I am asking for your help: help me pay off the debt I accumulated while I was in captivity. I have recently been released, now I am recovering, I am working on my health and looking for a job (this is a separate story, because it is very difficult for people with my past to find a job in Belarus). And it will be much easier for me if you help me.
This is the situation. I will be immensely grateful to everyone who will respond and help. Thank you!
How much is needed?
€3000
€1200 — this is how much my family spent on food and clothes while I was in detention
€800 — the debt that has accumulated on my rent during this time.
€1000 to help me and my family while I look for a job