In 2020, I went out to all peaceful protests after the rigged presidential election. Had an active civic position among my close acquaintances and comrades. In June 2022, I was sentenced to 3 years of “chemo” with referrals under sections 364 and 369 for innocuous comments.
Vadim Gulevich was detained and placed in the Minsk KGB detention center on June 28, 2021. He was kept there until December 6, 2022, when he was transferred to Volodarskogo. Vadim has only his mother and grandmother among his relatives, and in order to support his son and grandson during his imprisonment — they need help.
I am a former political prisoner who, in addition to her sentence, was fined heavily at trial. After I was released from prison I faced big problems with employment: I cannot get a job because of the unpaid fine and my age (57 years old).
Two years ago I, Pavel Sakharchuk, was convicted in a “political case,” but even after my release — the pressure on our family did not stop. We were forced to flee together with my wife and daughter to Bialystok, taking only the bare necessities with us.
I am a doctor, an active representative of fair elections. On 8.12.22 I was detained by the officers of GUBOP and OMON for insulting the president, terrorism and participation in unsanctioned meetings. She had to evacuate from Belarus.
Dmitry Sosnovsky was detained on July 1, 2021 for “attempted” murder of G. Azarenka and other articles. The investigation lasted almost 1.5 years, after which Dzmitry was sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined 700 basic units.
The story of our family protest began in August 2020. At that time we could not accept the unfair results of the elections and became involved in the protest movement of the district and the city.
The 18-year-old veteran is Gleb. Together with his brother he became a victim of repression in Belarus and, while still a minor, escaped from the punishers to Poland. Gleb had barely been granted asylum when a full-scale war broke out in Ukraine. Immediately after Gleb turned 18, he went to war against the Russian occupiers.
Denis Guretsky is a former political prisoner who was detained in May, as was his wife's sister. They were both sentenced in August to home “chemo” for their involvement in the events of 2020 and fled the country. Now he and his family need help settling into their new lives.
My name is Artem Novikov and I happen to be one of those who were forced to flee their country due to political persecution. I fought for my right to dissent from what was and is happening in the country. Now my family and I are forced to seek support to legalize our presence in an EU country.
Volunteer Anton Stashevsky has helped a huge number of people, now it's time for us to help him. Anton has two young children in his family. Funds are needed to cover the family's basic needs, help collect donations, medications and other necessities.
Since August 2020, I have actively participated in marches against the takeover in Belarus. In November 2020 I was convicted together with a friend for an Instagram photo with the national Belarusian flag, repaid the fines and continued “living” in Belarus.
I am a former political prisoner. I was released more than a year ago, but during the year I had to experience political persecution by the police, which prompted me to leave Belarus. I need support for the adaptation period in the new country.
I am the founder and leader of a VKontakte protest group in Vitebsk. I was detained by police officers, who took away my phone and exerted moral pressure. My project covered the current situation in the country, illegitimate authorities, their illegal actions and TG.
My daughter was convicted in October 2022 for participating in the 2020 Belarus protest movement. The court sentenced her to 1.6 years in jail and at the same time “Minsktrans” sued her for a huge fine.
Catherine Maretskaya is a medical protest activist and volunteer. Because of the hidden mobilization, she was forced to leave the country, as she has military duty in her medical specialty. She needs financial help to rent a house in Poland.
We have been activists since 2020, participated in all kinds of protests and rallies. We were forced to hide from political persecution in Russia. Now that this has become impossible, we need help for emergency relocation.
My name is Denis Shmatko, I am a bagpiper, and yesterday I was diagnosed with an axillary vein clot. This means that if you don't treat the disease, the consequences could be for the rest of your life. I may have to stop playing the bagpipes, which I really don't want to do.
After serving my sentence and returning home, the realization came to me that it is very difficult to exist after the SIZO, because no one else remembers you. Your health condition requires treatment, the monetary debt to the state puts you in conditions of constant torture.
For 3 months I was a volunteer for the Kalinowski Regiment. After some time back in Warsaw, I suffered a leg injury, which prevented me from working. I am in need of support in order to get the necessary medical care.
I spent the summer in the detention center in Grodno, where I was serving my sentence under Art. 368 p. 1. The case was initiated against me because of my tattoos, in which the law-enforcers read “insulting the president. The case was closed because of the statute of limitations.
In August 2020, after the rigged elections and violent dispersals of protesters, I could not silently watch what was happening, went out to protest marches, participated in various performances and actions.
Being in Belarus, we can′t give much information about ourselves, but we believe that people understand what is happening to us. At the moment my punishment was changed to ”chemo” at home, but my wife and I are hanging on, because we were convicted together. My punishment was changed because I became disabled of the second group.
I worked as a teacher and did not hide my civic position, because of which I was subjected to political pressure and had to leave Belarus urgently. Now I need help to settle down in another country.
I, Bondarenko Sergei, was forced to leave the territory of Belarus, as a case was brought against me for “distribution of extremist materials”. My “crime” is that I posted on Facebook the tragic news about the death of my cousin Vasil Parfenkov-Syabro, who fought in Kalinovsky's regiment.
Victoria is a Belarussian activist and cultural manager. When the war started, Vika actively helped Ukraine in Georgia, but she had a breakdown and ended up in a psychiatric clinic with an anxiety disorder.
After finding a photo from the 2020 protests, a children's surgeon was subjected to reprisals: a fine and dismissal from his job. Andrei Vasilievich (real name withheld for safety) saved children's lives, and now, because of so-called “illegal picketing” — was deprived of the opportunity to continue his life's work. Now he needs support and solidarity.
I am a political prisoner who had to flee Belarus from repression. My family and I moved to Poland where we are going through a period of adaptation: finding a job, drawing up documents and sending our children to school.
In August 2020, I participated in rallies against rigged elections and in chains of solidarity. In April 2022 I was sentenced to 2.5 years of ”chemo” for my civic position. When I was forced to move, I got into debt and practically lost my livelihood.
Like many Belarusians, I have been repeatedly detained, lost my job, gone through searches, and so on in circles. I am anxious to leave and continue to fight, but in a safe place, as the repression is intensifying and it is not safe for me to stay in Belarus. I know that I will be useful in freedom and I will be very grateful to anyone who can help me.
My name is Alexei Mokhnach and since 2012 I have been suffering from mildly treatable autoimmune Crohn's disease. Now, after passing repressions, my body is in remission, which requires medical attention in order to prevent colon cancer, severe loss of strength, decline of iron in blood and arthralgia (pain in joints). In need of treatment.
Due to repression, our daughter was born prematurely, weighing only 1800 grams, and now has features of psychophysical development. The diagnoses of cerebral palsy and brain damage are in question. In order to find out exactly what the problem is, you need an urgent MRI of the brain in the hospital under anesthesia.
On October 17th , the verdicts in the so called ”Autukhovich case” were horrifying in their cruelty and unreasonableness. The inhumanity of the Belarusian courts has long been known, but here it reached its limit, because the judges handed down the largest sentences in the history of repression.
The family of political prisoner Salmonovich Denis needs support. Denis was detained on October 4, 2021 and now is recognized as a terrorist. The court sentenced the activist to 10 years of reinforced regime and a fine, and — a civil claim of 33,000 rubles.
I was working as a videographer for Sergei Tikhanovsky's team, which made my stay in Belarus dangerous and forced me to make an urgent move. At first we settled in Ukraine with my family, but before the war we decided to leave and during the second move I had a child.
On October 6, 2022, the Minsk Regional Court handed down a verdict in the “BelaPAN case,” the oldest independent news agency in Belarus. The “judge” Vyacheslav Tuleika sentenced the editor-in-chief of BelaPAN, Irina Levshina, to 4 years of imprisonment in a general regime colony and the former deputy director Andrey Aleksandrov to 14 years of reinforced regime. Andrei was also fined 1000 basic units (32 thousand rubles).
On September 26, a fighter of the Belarussian “Pogonya” regiment, Gomel resident Alexei Veschevailov, with the call sign “Reaper,” was killed while carrying out a mission. This is a great loss not only for Belarus, but also an irreplaceable loss for his family.
After the events of 2020, I was subjected to political harassment by the management of an educational institution and, in the subsequent time, criminal prosecution for insulting a representative of the authorities.
I, Tysev Vitaly, need help for urgent serious medical surgery. After my beating at the Stolbtsy Regional Department of Internal Affairs on August 9, 2020, my illness related to a spinal cord injury began to progress and at the moment everything is moving towards paralysis.
I was detained on April 10, 2022, or rather, simply stolen from life without explanation. I was given 15 days in jail for alleged ”resistance” and I spent those days at Okrestino in terrible conditions. Then I was transferred to SIZO-1, where I was held for 3 months, and later I went to court, where I was sentenced to 3 years in prison.
From October 2021 to May 2022 I was in a political detention center, the first 10 days in Okrestino, in the most horrible conditions. My daughter was under guardianship. After the trial, at which they gave 3 years of home ”chemo” - faced mandatory custody payment of almost 2000 p.
In November 2021, I was arrested for participating in protests, after which I was in a detention center, and then I was fired from my job. The court imposed a sentence under Article 342 — 3 years of home ”chemistry. My daughter is paying university tuition, and the available funds are not enough to fully support her life.
The struggle of the Belarusian people was an important choice for everyone. My wife and I made the right choice before God, Belarus and our conscience. We had to pay for it with the dearest things: our native home, family, and country, and to become abandoned abroad, having no possibility to return.
In 2021, my life and my family's life were divided into “before” and “after.” I was subjected to psychological and physical torture on Okrestin, after which I had to flee the country. Now my parents are subjected to political repression and pressure.
Since August 2020, I have actively participated in the protests in Minsk and have not been afraid to be in the hottest spots for the freedom of the Belarusian people. For this I was arrested and imprisoned first in jail, then in “chemo”.
On June 6, 2022, a closed trial began in the criminal case against activists of the “Busli Latsats” group. Now Aliaksei Ivanisau, Aliaksei Gamez, Andrei Budai, Mikalai Biblis, Aliaksandr Sidarenka and their families need support in paying for a lawyer and transfers.
I was forced to drop out of university and leave Belarus because of persecution for political reasons. A criminal case was brought against me under part 3 of Article 361-1 of the Criminal Code, which provides for up to six years in prison, for subscribing to the telegram channel ”Plan Peramoga”.
Since August 2020, Vitaly Rogach has taken an active civic stance. In September 2021, he left a comment on the “Zeltser case,” after which he was detained. After a year in custody, Vitaly was sentenced to 2.5 years of general security and a 200 base units fine.
In 2020, seeking to defend my voice and that of the majority of Belarusians — I was detained under Article 23.34. After that, I faced trials, fines, re-arrest, a detention center, and the ultimate sentence: two years of home “chemo.” Needing support to help my family while I serve my sentence.
On September 6, ten political prisoners, defendants in the “Revolutionary Action” case, were sentenced at once in Minsk. In total, the imprisonment of the ten defendants, according to the plans of Lukashenko's accomplices, will amount to 94 years.
I am a former political prisoner who was detained late last year along with my daughter under Article 342. For 10 days we were kept in hellish conditions in Okrestino, then we were transferred to SIZO-1, where we spent three months in custody. A trial was held in the spring, at which we were sentenced to “home chemistry.”
My loved one was sentenced under Articles 130 and 369 to 4 years in prison. I paid for the services of a lawyer, and in total the money spent accounts for more than 17,000 Belarusian rubles, plus compensation of moral damage to the victim in the amount of 1500 Belarusian rubles. I'm asking you to help me with the compensation of the money paid to the lawyer.
Our family was forced to leave Belarus after the arrest of our husband and father, on whom a criminal case under Article 342 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus was opened. We tried to attend all the protests together with our children, so after my husband was detained the court started working on a criminal case against me.
Our family was forced to urgently leave Belarus for Poland because of the threat of removal of children from the family and criminal prosecution. We need support in order to start our life from the beginning.
My name is Alexander Grechishnikov and I am an unregistered candidate for President of the Republic of Belarus in 2020. While in Belarus, I was subjected to political pressure, after which I was forced to urgently leave for another country.
Despite the fact that I had a job I loved, a home and a family in my life — I was not willing to put up with the state's treatment of Belarusians, with constant lies and talentless leadership. I had to endure torture, trials, searches, interrogations, and eventually emigration.
My son, Denis Evgenievich Ivashin, was detained by KGB officers on March 12, 2021. A few days before his detention, Denis had published an investigation about former members of the Ukrainian special unit Berkut, who had been recruited into the Belarusian security forces.
I am currently a refugee in Ukraine. Due to the hot phase of the war - I have not been able to undergo rehabilitation in time. Complications with the rehabilitation of the circulatory system, thrombosis, varicose veins. Partial loss of sensation in my leg. Currently a residence registration is required, in Ukraine it is a paid service.
My name is Diana and in 2020, together with my whole family, we got involved in political life, and since August 10 we participated in all protest actions. This year we had to flee from repression, but as it happened, only I managed to go to Georgia.
My name is Oksana Kaspiarovich and I am a former political prisoner. After my release it became impossible to find a job, because I was put on the “list of terrorists” of the KGB, as a result of which all accounts at any bank, including my salary card, are blocked.
Like many Belarusians, my husband and I were active in the protest movement in 2020. For participating in two marches, my husband was sentenced to 1.5 years in jail and lost his business, while I was charged with two years of “house chemistry” and fired from my job. We have two children in our family who need support.
Our sixteen-year-old son Nikita Zolotorev has been through all the circles of hell since the 2020 election. Torture and abuse continues to this day, and recently our son was convicted again. We, his parents, are in distress and have little to no help for him.
My name is Vitaliy and since February 16, 2022 my life and the life of my family have been turned to hell. During this time I went through Okrestino, Zhodino, the detention center on Volodarskogo, and recently held a trial under Article 369, in which I received a sentence, a fine and a lawsuit.
I am a young guy who is in such a difficult situation for the first time in his life. I was recently sentenced to three years of “chemistry” for participating in the 2020 protests. I escaped my sentence and was left all alone in a new country, with no language skills and no means of livelihood.
After the events of 2020 began, my husband actively participated in all peaceful marches, doing his civic duty and standing up for his family's rights. Having shown courage by standing up for a man and fighting back against the authorities, he is now serving a 5-year sentence.
In 2020, along with the Belarussian people, I actively expressed my civic position, for which I was detained three times and sentenced to pay fines. In 2021, I was convicted in a criminal case and served my time in prison, but my family was not left alone after my release.
My name is Jana and I am 26 years old. Since August 2020 I actively participated in peaceful actions, at one of which I was detained and arrested for 10 days. A year later officers of the Main Department for Combating Organized Crime burst into my house and detained me again for 10 days, after which they sentenced me under Article 342 part 1 to 3 years of “chemistry” and sent me to the Penal Enforcement Division.
My name is Ruslan Kostevich, I am 19 years old. Being a Belarusian soldier, I left the Ukrainian border to avoid taking part in the military conflict, for which I was prosecuted under the article on desertion. Now I am in Georgia and need help for the period of settling down.
My name is Pasha, I am a Belarusan activist who for three years was a volunteer for the NGO “Radislava”, but for political reasons was forced to leave Belarus for Ukraine. The war drove me out of there and I ended up in Poland.
It's no secret that many sensible Belarusians left their country, parted from their homes and loved ones for not accepting a different opinion. I am among them, and I haven't been home for a year because of the political pressure which started to affect me. Until recently, I had enough of my savings, but now I need funds for rent.
I was actively involved in the protest movement in August 2020, after which I was taken away in October 2021. I was released from custody in March 2022, and I went to serve my sentence on “chemo.” My family and friends can't support me financially all the time, and I now need help to maintain life while incarcerated.
My name is Ilya Lobatsevich, I am a former political prisoner who took an active part in the protest movement. Once, being at a protest together with my mother — I stood up for her, after which I was detained. I was sentenced for 1.5 years, and after my release I decided to leave Belarus.
My brother was in the group for the liberation of Snake Island, and now he is courageously fighting in the ranks of the DPSU (State Frontier Service of Ukraine), protecting Ukraine from Putin's aggression. To perform military tasks, the brother needs to acquire special active headphones.
Our family actively participated in actions and tried to contribute to the protest movement in various ways. Our civic position became the reason for political pressure on us. Having survived the TDF, the detention center, the trial and the sentence for “chemistry with referral” — we left Belarus.
My name is David, I am a Belarussian who recently returned from Ukraine. After the events, for more than three months I have been working with a psychotherapist, but unfortunately my condition worsened and now I am clinically depressed and also had a suicide attempt.
My name is Tatyana Matsulevich, I am a young mother who had to leave Belarus urgently together with my small child. After my husband Aleksey's escape from prison, political pressure and threats were put on me.
Sergei, a close friend and colleague of human rights defenders from different countries, has been struggling with a severe illness for more than a year now. Emergency help is needed to pay for his treatment in a specialized hospital in Turkey.
We, Natalia and Alexander, have tried to participate in all actions and protests since June 2020, for which we had to endure repression, detentions and political pressure. In order to stay free we decided to leave the country.
My name is Wladyslaw Laplo and 3 months ago I moved to Poland because of the political pressure. During the first month I rented accommodation with the money I took with me and at the same time I looked for a job.
My name is Vitaly Kozlovsky, and since the August 9, 2020 stele, I have been going to marches and rallies as if I were working. During the Peace and Independence March on August 30, 2020, I was “featured” in two operational videos of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, including one with a minibus being run over.
During the protests in August 2020, I was one of those who fell under the worst wave of repression. After surviving torture and beatings, I began to withdraw the beatings, after which political persecution awaited me. I am now in Poland and need support to ensure my life.
After my husband and I actively expressed our civic position in 2020 — we were convicted and fired from our jobs at different times. We had 18 and 20 years of experience together at the same company. Tried in vain to assert our rights before labor commissions.
We are a large family with seven children. Recently there was a grief in our family — the main breadwinner was taken away for a comment in social networks. I am on maternity leave and receive pennies and the children need to be prepared for school.
After the start of the war in Ukraine, a mother and daughter who left Belarus because of political pressure — found themselves in a difficult situation. Now they stay in Ukraine and receive medical treatment, but they lost their jobs and their livelihood. They need help to pay for housing, buy medicine and minimal living expenses.
My name is Yana, I am 30 years old, I have three young children, Anya, Peter and Athena. My husband was detained and sentenced to one year in prison for a comment in a telegram chat room. With all the hardships I am left alone: rental housing, a mortgage on a home under construction, legal fees.
A man detained in August 2020 for participating in protests has been sentenced to prison time. He now has to pay a hefty fine in order to leave the country after his release and make contact with loved ones. Employment opportunities for him are limited because of his criminal record.
My name is Yuri Nesterenko and I am a musician and writer. My active participation in the destiny of the country, expressed both through election observation and through my work in independent publishing houses, has resulted in political pressure and the threat of arrest. Choosing freedom and safety, together with my family, we were forced to leave the country urgently.
Yana Pinchuk is a Belarusian political prisoner who was detained on 01.11.21. in St. Petersburg at the request of the Belarusian authorities. Yana has been kept in a detention center in St. Petersburg for 8 months already, during which time the Russian General Prosecutor's Office granted Belarus' request to extradite her to Belarus, and the Russian court upheld the decision.
Due to the fact that political pressure began to be exerted on my children, we were forced to leave Belarus urgently. On the 5th of February we came to Poland via Ukraine. Now, being in another country, we need help to rent a house and buy basic necessities.
I am a civic activist and was a member of Victor Babariko's initiative group during the 2020 elections. For expressing my opinion in the comments on telegram channels I had to undergo several searches and stay in the TDF, after which I was sentenced to a year and a half of home “chemistry”. Needing help to support my family and pay court costs while my sentence is being served.
The military of VSU stands up to their last breath for their Family, for their People, and for their Country. Now one group of troops is in dire need of a pickup truck for combat missions. The previous vehicle was damaged during air strikes.
Karina Potemkina is an activist from Soligorsk who was forced to leave Belarus in December 2021 and stayed in Bucha, where she caught the war. Since the outbreak of hostilities, the girl became a volunteer for the local Rada in Bucha, and in early March she evacuated to Lviv, where she continued volunteering on another platform. After the liberation of Bucha, Karina decided to go back and continue volunteering.
My name is Konstantin Shulga and on December 15, 2021 I was detained in my own home under Article 342 part. 1 (violation of public order and participation in unauthorized actions). Before the beginning of my detention I was engaged in treatment of my health, which had significantly worsened during my time in the punishment cell and in the pre-trial detention center. Now I am in Poland and I need help to continue my treatment and to settle down in my new country.
Dmitry Vovk and Yevgeny Shkrabo were killed in a car accident in Romania on June 14. Now relatives of Evgeni and Dmitri need money for the funeral of the victims, their parents will transport them from Romania to Belarus. Dmitry's wife and children (6 and 9 years old) cannot return to Belarus because of political persecution. As a result of the blocking of their cards in Ukraine and the loss of their husband and father, they do not have sufficient means of subsistence and need support at first.
In 2020, I participated in rallies and actively expressed my opposition to the violence and lawlessness in Belarus. In September 2021, I was sentenced to 1.6 years of home chemistry on a “roundhouse case.” In April 2022, after serving 7 months of home chemo, I had to flee the country illegally because of the threat of the colony.
My name is Igor Kleshchuk and I am a political activist and artist. Hiding from political persecution perpetrated by the bloody Lukashenko regime — I was forced to find myself in Britain and apply for asylum. At the moment, I need help in paying for a lawyer.
My name is Yegor Sudoyd, I am a political prisoner who has served his sentence under Article 342 Part 1. While participating in mass protests and during the period of detention, my health was damaged and I received numerous injuries. I am currently in the process of recovering my health and medical treatment, as a result of which I am in need of medical support.
Sofia Sapega was detained on May 21, 2021 at Minsk airport, while boarding an Athens-Vilnius plane. Since May 21, 2021, she was detained, first in the KGB detention center, then under house arrest. On May 6, 2022, she was sentenced under Art. 130 part 3 of the Criminal Code to 6 years in prison.
My fight for a free Belarus cost me the loss of my job and most importantly, separation from my young son. Surprisingly I managed to win the courts, but then the threats came. And I had to leave Belarus without my child and move to another country and build my life by myself.
My name is Vladimir, I am a political activist who participated in all rallies and protests in Baranovichi and was also an observer in the elections of the 17th and 20th. In August 2021, after my brother was detained, they came to my house with a search and sent me for interrogation, where they told me to “sit quietly and wait”. Choosing freedom, I was forced to leave the country in an emergency.