Help for a student convicted of participating in peaceful protests

  • Story

Hello! My name is Andrew.
(name changed for security reasons, BYSOL Foundation has all identification documents)

My story began two years ago, when I was taken from classes and put in a pre-trial detention center for participating in peaceful protests. For three months I didn’t know what would happen to me, so when the “court” sentenced me to “home chemicals,” I was glad that I got off so easily.

​​​Home chemicals are a type of punishment when the convicted person remains free, but with restrictions. The convict has a schedule for both work and personal activities, including going to the store or throwing out the trash. Police officers can come to check every day and at any time — note BYSOL

During my arrest, I was expelled and lost my job. It doesn’t seem to be a problem, but as it turned out later, without a military ID, without education and with a criminal record and restrictions from “household chemicals” it is almost impossible to find anything. For 4 months I wandered around for vacancies, without particularly choosing and responding to any offers, but I received refusals even for the position of a loader or a tile laying worker — in some places they asked for a military ID, in others an education was needed, in others the work schedule did not match with the schedule of my “chemistry”, and somewhere they were simply afraid to get involved with the “political”.

But finally I got a chance and found a good job. Well, not bad — there was just enough money to rent a room and food. However, soon the management at work changed, and the new boss was not so loyal to me because of my criminal record. My salary was lowered and bonus payments, which made up most of the total amount, were removed.

I'm thinking about changing jobs, but it's very difficult to do because it took me 4 months to find my current job. But the main reason is that I myself cannot break the contract, because the restrictions imposed on me by “household chemicals” do not allow this.

My salary no longer covered my expenses (basic room, food), and I found myself in a hopeless situation where I couldn’t quit and find a better job. If I don’t find money for housing, then with a high probability I will have to change the regime from “chemistry” to a more strict one. Unfortunately, I don’t have close people who could help me in this situation, so I decided to contact BYSOL.

At the most, I would like to buy another simple laptop in order to have a normal connection with the world. But first of all, I need to cover rent and pay for groceries. Help me not to go back to prison. Thank you all so much in advance!

How much is needed?

€2000

€500 for a laptop
€125*12 months – rental housing

The collection is over. Сollected:
€ 2 295
The collection is over. Сollected: € 2 295