Good afternoon, dear friends!
My name is Igor Fedorov. Until December 2020, I worked as a mechanical engineer at an aircraft repair plant in Baranavichy. Since August 2020 I took an active part in protest activities — I participated in numerous actions in Baranavichy and Minsk, organized solidarity actions and collection of signatures for the cessation of violence and holding new fair elections at my enterprise. Because of this, he was repeatedly brought to administrative responsibility in the form of fines and administrative arrests for his activities. In December 2020, I was dismissed from my job for my political position.
In August 2021, due to the looming threat of further persecution, I left Belarus and moved to Poland, where I lived until February 27, 2022. After the outbreak of war in Ukraine, I returned to Belarus. Why? I wanted to show that I was not afraid, I wanted to say that I was against it. It is hard to describe briefly what was going on inside then, but I made the decision to return, despite the possibility of criminal prosecution, without much hesitation.
On February 27, 2022, I was detained after leaving the polling station (on February 27, 2022, Belarus held a referendum on amendments and additions to the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus — BYSOL note) during a protest against the war in Ukraine. I was fined 90 basic units for participating in the action, and a criminal case was opened against me under Article 368 (Article 368 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus — insulting the President of the Republic of Belarus) for publishing a sharp criticism of the war in Instagram. Under this article, I was subsequently sentenced to 2 years of imprisonment and served the whole term in full. After my release, due to the threat of further criminal prosecution, I was evacuated from Belarus by the BYSOL team.
Now I am starting life with a clean slate. I had to leave Belarus in a hurry, so I did not have much time to apply for a visa. Now, until the final decision on granting me international protection by Poland, I cannot legally find a job.
Honestly, it is very inconvenient to ask for help, and I have sat down to write this appeal to you, dear friends, for a whole week already ten times. I need help only for the first time — to rent a room, to buy food and necessities, to pay for travel documents. And then I will do it myself. I justify this request by the fact that in the future, when I get on my feet, I will also help people in need!
How much is needed?
€1695
€900 — room rent (€300 x 3 months)
€690 — food and essentials (€230 x 3 months)
€105 — payment of travel document (€35 x 3 months)