Aliaksandr spent three weeks hiding in the forest from law enforcers before the BYSOL extraction service helped him escape. Now he is in Poland with his family, awaiting a decision on international protection, and needs support to start life from scratch.
“I worked as a tinsmith at a private company. When the 2020 election campaign began, I joined signature collection pickets and later took part in protest marches. I often went to the Square of Changes and knew Raman Bandarenka from the neighbourhood, but we never had a chance to talk properly. I was taken in for the first days of administrative detention, and a week later Raman was gone. We missed each other by a week.”
In the autumn of 2020, Aliaksandr was detained by the KGB and sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest. After that, he was repeatedly summoned for so-called “friendly chats”: “They put me through a polygraph in a case about a broken window at some judge’s or investigator’s place,” he recalls.
“The law enforcers didn’t harm me physically, but they constantly reminded me: ‘We’re nearby, we see you, we remember you,’” says Aliaksandr. “Because the child protection authorities began taking an interest in my son, I took him and my former wife abroad.”
In January 2025, anti-extremism unit (GUBOPiK) officers came to his workplace and took him to the Pervomaiski district police department. Then followed 10 prosecutor’s days in a temporary detention centre — a punishment cell without a bed or belongings, 8–12 people per cell. After that, he was transferred to the remand centre in Kolyadichi, where he spent two months awaiting trial. The verdict — two and a half years of confinement in an open correctional facility (“home confinement”) under Article 342, part 1 of the Criminal Code of Belarus (organising or participating in actions that constitute a severe breach of public order).
“The inspector told me right away that she would make sure I was put behind bars — two violations and that’s it,” recalls Aliaksandr.
After the first violation, he was mistakenly given only five days and sent to a temporary detention centre block for those sentenced to confinement in an open correctional facility. “When the head of the centre saw my file, he cursed his subordinates for sending a ‘zmagar’ [‘struggle junkie’] to an ordinary cell,” says Aliaksandr. “He threatened me with ‘inhuman conditions’ and ordered my name to be marked in case of my return.”
The second violation happened because he came home five minutes late. The inspector called and demanded that he appear immediately, warning that otherwise he would be brought in by force. Aliaksandr decided not to return and went underground.
“I lived in the forest for three weeks,” he recalls. “Honestly, I had lost hope and was preparing for the worst. But the BYSOL extraction service managed to get me out. I left without belongings or money — I’m an orphan, had no one to turn to, and my friends were already in the EU.”
At the end of August, he reached Lithuania and later moved to Poland, where his partner and son were already living. Aliaksandr applied for international protection, but the review has been delayed until March 2026, and he cannot work officially yet. After arriving in Poland, he learned that he had been added to the extremist list.
“I live carefully and do my best to manage, but I started literally from zero,” says Aliaksandr. “It’s important to get back on my feet legally and calmly — just to work and live next to my family.”
He now needs support to cover rent, buy clothes, essentials, and food. “I need the most basic things and will be grateful for every euro.”
Fundraising goal
€1950
€1000 – housing rent for 2 months
€500 – food expenses
€450 – clothing and essential items