Hello!
My name is Sergei Antonov. I am a Belarusian journalist and fiction writer.
As a fiction writer I am known for participation in the project “Metro 2033 Universe”. Nine novels of this series came out from under my pen. Another of my novels “Stabilizer. Minsk 2041” was published in Lithuania. It tells about the collapse of the Belarusan dictatorship. My books were also published in Germany, Poland, Hungary, South Korea.
My journalistic activity is connected with the portals 6tv.by and Mogilev.media, where I told about the events in Mogilev region and had an author's video column. In addition, I was the editor of the independent small-circulation newspaper “Stariy Zamok” in Bykhov.
In 2012, I was nominated as a candidate from the BPF party in the elections to the Belarusian parliament. Later, as a sign of protest against election fraud, I withdrew my candidacy.
On November 29th last year the portal Mogilev.media, where I worked, was recognized as an extremist formation in Belarus. A few days later, on December 6th , KGB officers searched my apartment and private photo studio, which belongs to my son, and confiscated all the equipment. I was interrogated for 8 hours, demanded to confess to cooperation with the portal, and threatened with a long term of imprisonment. After the interrogation, I was placed in Bykhov detention center for two days.
On December 11, with the help of the BYSOL team, I left Belarus in an emergency (almost without money and with a minimum of belongings). On December 26, I found out that the law enforcers had detained my son — now he is in the pre-trial detention center. In addition, KGB officers came to my elderly mother and called my relatives, demanding to tell my exact whereabouts.
You can read more about my story here.
Now I am in Poland. Here I applied for refugee status and for the next month and a half I will live in a shelter for Belarusians. But then I need to settle down, and the problem is that a month is critically short to solve all the issues.
I am asking for financial help so that I could have more time to settle in. This will help me to relieve the stress of the sudden move, to get involved in journalistic work and to continue the new novel I have started.
How much is needed?
€2000
€1000 — accommodation for 2-3 months
€1000 — living expenses and a safety cushion