Good afternoon.
I am a former political prisoner. I served a year and a half in prison for showing my civic position in 2020. My parents are very scared and ask me not to get involved anywhere else, and I need your help. That's why this fundraiser I asked to be anonymous.
It all started in the summer of 2020. I stood in solidarity chains and participated in pickets in support of alternative candidates to Lukashenko. Even before the elections I got 10 days of arrest under Article 23.34 (Article 23.34 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Belarus — Violation of the order of organizing or holding mass events) and lost my job. And after the elections I was unstoppable. I wanted to do something to bring about changes in our country. But the protests ended, and I decided that that was the end of it.
However, two years later, the law enforcers suddenly came to my workplace. They did not explain anything, but immediately took me home, where they searched my house. They took away all my savings and my laptop, and still have not returned anything. After the search, they took me to the department on Revolutsionnaya Street, where they put me face down on the floor and beat me with a truncheon and feet. My body turned into one continuous hematoma — it was the most real torture!
After that I was formally arrested on a spurious case for hooliganism for 13 days in the Central Intelligence Center. And when those 24 hours were over, I was not released, but was charged with a criminal case, and I went on trial.
At first, I spent 8 days in the punishment cell on Okrestina. I slept on bare concrete with the lights on all the time, going up several times a night to check. Then I was transferred to the pre-trial detention center on Volodarskogo in a basement cell for 24 people in unbearable cramped and stuffy conditions. A few months later a “trial” took place, after which I was sent to a colony for a year and a half.
In the colony I wore a yellow triangle tag sewn on my uniform so that everyone could see that I was “political. I had to work at a dirty and difficult job of dismantling scrap metal. Medical care in the colony was also punitive. In response to any health complaints, the prison doctors recommended warm drinks as treatment! I got urolithiasis and, to my misfortune, stones started coming out. The pain was wild — those who had it will understand. The so-called “doctors” did not help, and the colony administration did not allow an ambulance for 5 hours.
After my release, I was unable to return to normal life. The regime created such conditions that even after release political prisoners live in constant stress and fear for their freedom and life. I was tormented by police officers with endless checks and interviews, it was impossible to get a job anywhere — with a criminal article on politics, no one would hire me. I simply had nothing to live on.
I decided to move to Poland to protect myself from political persecution. However, due to the fact that all my savings were stolen by law enforcers and it was impossible to earn money after my release, I found myself in a foreign country without means of subsistence. Now I am in great need of financial support. For now I plan to work as a courier. To do this I need to buy a bicycle, and also to pay for the rent of a room for at least 2 months until I start receiving a salary. I hope to get on my feet during this time, and then I will be able to help others in a difficult life situation.
I thank you in advance for any help and support and believe that together we are strength!
How much is needed?
€1400
€400 — bicycle (https://allegro.pl/oferta/rower-gorski-mtb-29-cali-shimano-21-biegow-hamulce-tarczowe-rama-19-12939424020?dd_referrer=)
€600 — room rent for 2 months
€400 — for household needs and food