Four years of repression - Four years of underground solidarity work for prisoners
It's been almost four years since the 2020 uprising in Belarus. It was the most beautiful and at the same time devastating thing for many of us. It left many people injured, dead, imprisoned, forced to flee their homes, or stay in Belarus awaiting cops at your door.
Because after almost three years of public silience and seeming obedience the repression did not stop. They are literally coming after anyone they can track by phones, Telegram chats, shares from "extremist" media, or identify in photo books and documentaries dedicated to long-gone protests.
It's known that at least 5000 people were criminally persecuted and jailed, 1300 of them have been released after completing their terms, and some got redetained on new charges. Just last month they detained more than 300 people, mostly women, many of them elderly, who brought or posted care packages to political prisoners, sent them little money or pens and envelopes. All because they dared to still act in solidarity with protesters.
There were relatives of antifascists and anarchists among the detained, too. Families, who not only lost their loved ones to the system for many years - some up to 21 years - but now have to spend all their money on making their experience in prison livable.
Multiple lawyers were fired, disbarred, or even arrested for helping political prisoners. Many lawyers now refuse to do the job for safety reasons. It is almost impossible to find a person who would want to put their name on an envelope or on a contract with a lawyer.
Donating to any solidarity structure in Belarus means prison. The cops identified a lot of people who donated via facebook to solidarity funds in 2020 and force them to pay 10 times the amount to the state. Those who refuse, get 5 years in prison. Those who agree, can expect cops coming another and another time to blackmail them and force to give even more money, this buying another year of relative freedom.
Most of our anarchist and antifascists comrades are being harrassed in prisons, deprived of family visits and calls. They can only correspond with family members. This shakes their spirit and some are fighting with doubts that everyone else stopped caring.
But we did not. ABC-Belarus and other solidarity groups are doing everything we can to make sure families have the necessary funds to support their loved one in prison, that prisoners have access to lawyers, even if it's just to talk to a person from the "free world", that they also receive small messages about people remembering, asking and standing in solidarity with them.
We can only count on external support, and we are looking for groups of people who can "adopt" one comrade and do the fundraising on a regular basis to cover their needs. This way, you can share some of the responsibility we have carried for almost 15 years now as a group. Prisoners needs vary depending on what they are allowed, so montly costs range from 70 to 460 euros per person. It's a lot of work for us to try and cover the needs of 30 people behind bars. So consider becoming a personal supporter, talk to your friends, find a rich relative, whatever!
One-time donations are also welcome, please check your options on our homepage abc-belarus.org.
Keep up the fight for those whose hands are tied for the time being!
In solidarity,
ABC-Belarus