Hi!
This is the BYSOL training camp team. And this time we are with good news!
Last night our evacuation team took Polina Sharendo-Panasiuk out of Belarus. Now the woman is safe with her husband and children. She is on vacation. However, after more than 4 years of imprisonment Polina needs support to recover — both physically and emotionally. Therefore, at the request of the family, we are opening this collection.
Polina Sergeevna Sharendo-Panasiuk is a social activist from Brest. On January 3, 2021, law enforcers broke down the door of her apartment and detained the woman. She was charged under Article 364 of the Criminal Code (violence against a police officer) for scratching one of the policemen who broke into her house. Later it became known that the woman was also accused of insulting the president (Article 368 of the Criminal Code) and a representative of the authorities (Article 369 of the Criminal Code). During her imprisonment, the woman was placed in a punishment cell several times, she complained about psychological and physical pressure.
On June 9, 2021 Polina was sentenced to 2 years of imprisonment in a colony under general regime. In April 2022, under the article “malicious disobedience” she was added another year and five months. Then followed new charges that extended the term.
For example, she was reported and penalized for “sleeping while sitting on the floor with her head on the seating cabinet”; “being impolite with correctional officers and communicating with others”; “performing physical exercises while lying on the floor at a prohibited time, taking off her clothes”; and “unbuttoning her jacket.
During four years of detention Polina was kept in isolation for almost 180 days, beaten, sent for psychiatric evaluation. She was not provided with medical assistance, despite her serious condition.
Polina was released on February 1, 2025, after spending more than four years in detention.
Pauline is now getting used to freedom, but there is still a long road of recovery ahead — and she needs our help. After four years behind bars, it's important to just recover, regain your health and start living again.
We are opening this fundraiser to support Polina and her family. Your help is a step towards her being able to rest, recover and get back to normal life.
How much is needed?
€5000
It is difficult for us to write the amount under this collection as we usually do under our other texts. The thing is that Pauline has just seen her family for the first time in 4 years, and we don't want to distract her and painstakingly ask about all her needs. So we've put the standard amount that we put up in similar cases under our other fees.
With Love,
BYSOL Fundraising Team.