Hello!
I am a former political prisoner, forced to turn to you for help. Despite the fact that I left Belarus, I cannot disclose my real name to protect my loved ones who remain in the country. They receive regular calls, threats and pressure because of my departure. I fear that my public activism may aggravate their situation.
But unfortunately, I am in a difficult financial situation and will not be able to cope without your support. Your participation can help me during this difficult period.
Before the terrible events of August 9, 2020, I was “out of politics”. My life was orderly: I had my own small auto repair business, plans for its development, friends and family concerns. However, everything changed when in August 2020, a loved one of mine was injured by the regime.
I personally became convinced that the laws in our country do not work. It became clear that today it affected my loved one, and tomorrow it could hit me. So I joined the protest movement, deciding to act personally: I was an observer, went on marches, stood in hitches, volunteered near the pre-trial detention center, and was active on social networks. My activism attracted the attention of KGB officers. In 2021 I was detained right at work, using force. At first they sent me to the temporary detention center, then quickly opened a criminal case for comments and transferred me to the pre-trial detention center.
I did not see my family and children until three years later.
Of these three years, I spent more than a year in the pre-trial detention center in a cramped, stuffy cell, and this severely undermined my health. Due to the lack of air and being locked up for a long time, I developed an autoimmune lung disease. Over time, it became chronic and untreatable.
In 2024, I was released from prison after serving my entire sentence, with a feeling of hatred and anger towards the system and the regime. I was ready to continue fighting, but it turned out that there was no active protest movement in the country. This was an unexpected blow for me.
Although my dream of freedom had come true, I felt neither free nor safe. I was constantly kept in suspense because of the “preventive registry” — they could suddenly check where I was at any time of the day or night because I was considered “prone to extremist and other destructive activities”.
A huge unpaid fine hung over me like a sword of Damocles. Its payment and the need to support my family completely exhausted my financial resources. It was almost impossible to find a job. Wherever I applied, the employers, seeing the article under which I had been convicted, refused me with the words: “You understand…”.
On top of that, I began to have serious health problems because of my illness, which worsened and required treatment. My savings ran out and I decided to leave the country to find a job and provide for my family and my children's education away from the regime's propaganda.
I really need your help to start over.
I want to get back on my feet and take my family out of the jaws of the regime.
How much is needed?
€3000
€1500 — rent and utilities (for 3 months with prepayment while I get my driving license “E”)
€1000 — assistance to my family for the time until I start working (school supplies and children's uniforms for school, shoes, food and household expenses).
€500 — expenses related to obtaining “E” category and ADR permit for transportation of dangerous goods (because I did not have time to finish my studies in Belarus due to my departure), as well as learning Polish language.