Witness and Participant Testimonies

We include here first-person narratives as well as interviews conducted with Belarusians who have taken part in protests and been subject to violence and detention.

Texts are posted in their original language, with their titles translated into English and a link to a translation of the whole text when available. Postings are listed chronologically, with the most recent material first.

• Original RU and BE petitions.by – instrument for collective complaints and appeals to government agencies. 
• Original RU Одна из нас [One of Us] – a project about the life of Belarusian women after August 2020.
• Original RU dissidentby – help with transfers for political prisoners, as well as support their families.
• Original RU zadelo.co – a database of evidence of political pressure on business
• Original RU politzek.me – anyone can register anonymously on the website, make friends with political prisoners and help them by performing simple tasks
• Original EN and RU vkletochku.org – here you can write a letter to political prisoners in Belarus  
• Original RU INeedHelpBy – initiative helps those who have suffered from political repression and are in dire financial situations with products.
• Original RU Mozham.com – Aggregator of volunteer assistance in Belarus.
• Original EN and RU Honest-people.by – open independent community of the citizens of Belarus, which develop social initiatives: platforms and tools, communication strategies, legal and financial support etc.
• Original RU Честный университет [Honest University] – a collection of initiatives that help students with legal, financial, and academic issues.

• Original RU 23-34.net – public investigation of police violations related to peaceful actions, here you can share your story
• Original EN and RU August 2020 – stories of people who have suffered from police brutality during the peaceful demonstrations in Belarus
• Original RU skarga.help – generator of complaints and appeals to government agencies
• Original RU profbel.online – a project about independent trade unions and information how to legally defend their labor rights.
• Original RU Каждый день: Летопись протестов 2020 года [belarus.daily] – a chronicle of the 2020 protests. Captured every day and every important event.
• Original RU Дочери Евы [evalution.today] – a project about women and their role in political and social events in modern Belarus.
• Original RU Пресса под Прессом
  [Press under pressure], underpressure.press-club.by, December 2020.

• Nick Paton Walsh, Sebastian Shukla, Christian Streib and Denis Lapin about Sergei and other activists  
  Original EN "He cut my underwear. Then he did what he did", CNN, March 22, 2021. 
• Aksan Kolb in Interview with a daughter of the head of the "Press Club" Julia Slutskaya, Aliaksandra. 
  Original BE Аляксандра Слуцкая: «Я ведаю, што хутка змагу абняць маму»
  [Alyaksandra Slutskaya: "I know I will be able to hug my mother soon"], novychas.by, March 10, 2​021. 
• Polina Kuzmitskaia in Interview with activist Olga Khizhinkova 
  Original RU «Я не могу себя уважать, когда молчу». Ольга Хижинкова о том, что она пережила за последние месяцы
  [“I cannot respect myself when I am silent.” Olga Khizhinkova about what she went through in recent months], LADY.TUT.BY, December 31, 2020.
• Original BE «Напісала, што ад свайго не адступіцца». Што новага ў палітвязьняў-жанчын
  [“She wrote that she would not back down.” What’s new with female political prisoners], RFE/Radio Liberty, December 25, 2020.
• Nadzeia Budhzan in Interview with photographer Shura Pilipovich-Sushchyts
  Original BE «Я зразумела, што ёсць толькі адзін варыянт — здавацца». Маналог Шуры Піліповіч-Сушчыц пра падрыхтоўку да 7 сутак на Акрэсціна ФОТАГІСТОРЫЯ
  [“I realized that there was only one option – to give up.” Shura Pilipovich-Sushchyts’s monologue about preparation for 7 days to Akrestina jail PHOTO HISTORY], baj.by – Belarusian Association of Journalisms, December 21, 2020.

• 23 women political prisoners
  Original BE Хто тыя 23 жанчыны, якіх праваабаронцы прызналі палітзняволенымі
  [Who are the 23 women whom human rights activists have recognized as political prisoners], Viasna news, December 15, 2020.
• Natallia Lubneuskaia in Interview with activists 
  Original BE 100-бальніца, мастачка, стараста групы. Хто тыя студэнткі-палітвязні, якіх дзяржава кінула на Валадарку
  [100-hospital, artist, group head. Who are the student-political prisoners, whom the state threw at Valadarka?], nn.by, December 5, 2020.
• Andreas Gustavsson about Kristina
  Original EN ”They raped me with truncheons” – the truth about Lukashenko’s brutal war on opposition activists, etc.se, December 2, 2020.
  RU «Я думала, что умру»: Беларуска рассказала о жестоком изнасиловании силовиками, чтобы ее услышал мир, The Village me – pereklad,  December 3, 2020.

• Vika, Minsk
  Original RU «Ой, я вас голенькими нарисовала!» Минчанка сидела на сутках и рисовала жизнь за решеткой – посмотрите
  [“Oh, I drew you naked!” The woman from Minsk was inprisoned for days and painted life behind it – take a look], citydog.by, December 2, 2020.
• Lucy Ash about ex-police officer Andrei Ostapovich
  Original EN A police officer with a conscience who left Belarus, BBC News, December 1, 2020.
• Original RU with EN subtitles “Белая Книга Правосудия”. Презентация
  [Online video-presentation of the book “Seeking Justice. Stories of Violance in Belarus”], Купалаўцы – YouTube, November 26, 2020.
• Pensioners participating in protests
  Original BE Пэнсіянэркі пра ўдзел у акцыях пратэсту
  [Pensioners about participating in protests, Hrodna], RFL – Radio Liberty, November 25, 2020.

• Hanna Sous talks with female witnesses
  Original BE «Наглядчыца сказала зьняць ніжнюю бялізну і прысядаць пры ёй». Жанчыны пра гвалт, беззаконьне і надзею
  [“The caretaker said to take off her underwear and squat next to her.” Women about violence, lawlessness and hope], RFL – Radio Liberty, November 24, 2020.
• Original EN Seeking Justice. Stories of Violance in Belarus, Belarus in Focus, November 11, 2020.
  RU and BE У пошуках правасуддзя. Гісторыі гвалту у Беларусі, Belarus in Focus, November 11, 2020.
• Viktoria Kovalchuk in Interview with rugby athlete Maria Shakuro
  Orignial RU За 10 суток спортсменка узнала, чем кормят в тюрьме, как спать при свете и почему система не работает
  [In 10 days, the athlete learned what is a food in prison, how to sleep with an active light and why the system does not work],TUT.BY, October 27, 2020.
• Maxim Khoroshin 
  Original EN The level of violence from the Lukashenko structures is escalating, Our House – International Centre for Civil Initiatives, October 14, 2020.
  Flower shop owner Maxim Khoroshin is taken away by ambulance after having been brutally beaten in police custody. Khoroshin had been giving out flowers to protesters.
• Olga Shparaga, Andreas Herrler 
  Original DE Belarus-Oppositionelle nach Festnahme: “Wir kämpfen weiter”, SWR Aktuell Radio, October 5, 2020.
• Lidiia Akryshora in interview with artist and painter Yana Chernova
  Original RU  Автор картины «Белорусская Венера» художница Яна Чернова: «Люди просто бояться говорить. А хочется жить, а не бояться», for IWM Chronicle from Belarus, September 22, 2020.
  EN Yana Chernova, the author of the painting “Belarusian Venus”: “People are Simply Afraid to Speak. But We Want to Live and not be Afraid”, translated from Russian by Kamila Orlova for IWM Chronicle from Belarus, October 4, 2020.
• Alesya Pesenko in Interview with artist Nadya Sayapina
  «Боялась грубости и применения силы». Художница Надя Саяпина нарисовала камеру и сокамерниц
  [“I was afraid of being rude and using force.” Artist Nadya Sayapina drew a camera and inmates], lady.tut.by, October 3, 2020.
• Dmitri Gurnevich in Interview with ex-police officer
  Original BE and RU «Прайшоў 70км палесе, начаваў пад елкай інавакзале». Былы сьледчы пра цану сыходу зсыстэмы
  [Walked 70 km through the woods, spent the night under a Christmas tree and at the train station. ” A former investigator about the cost of leaving the system], Radio Liberty Belarus, October 1, 2020.
• Yana Goncharova 
  Original RU Как написать письмо политзаключённому_й? ✉️ Краткое пособие.
  [How to write a letter to a political prisoner? ✉️ Brief guide], September 28, 2020
• Poet and translator Anna Komar 
  Original RU Задержание, Анна Комар, September 8, 2020
  EN Arrest and Detention, Anna Komar, translated from Russian by Stephan Sveshnikov for IWM Chronicle from Belarus, October 12, 2020.
• Kamila Orlova in interview with Valeria Pozdnyakova
  Original RU «Я вышла на протест потому что своими глазами увидела как силовики расстреливают людей» — участница Минских мирных протестов, Валерия Позднякова, о решении бороться за честное будущее, о задержании брата сотрудниками КГБ и о солидарности, for IWM Chronicle from Belarus, September 14, 2020.
  EN I went to the protests because I saw with my own eyes how the authorities were shooting people, translated from Russian by Markian Dobczansky for IWM Chronicle from Belarus, October 13, 2020.
• Viktor
  Original RU Testimony: Viktor, September 14, 2020.
  EN Testimony of Viktor, translated by Kamila Orlova for IWM Chronicle from Belarus.
• Anton Jefremow
  Medical Record Anton Efremov
  Original RU Ефремов Антон. История из Изолятора. рус, August 20, 2020.
  EN Testemony: Anton Efremov, English, August 20, 2020, translated from Russian by Kamila Orlova for IWM Chronicle from Belarus.
  DE Aussage: Anton Jefremow, Deutsch, am 20. August 2020, translated from Russian by Martin Malek for IWM Chronicle from Belarus.
• Vitali Shkliarov
  Original DE „Als hätte mich eine Zeitmaschine in den Gulag verfrachtet” Haft-Protokoll aus Belarus
  ["As if a time machine had shipped me to the Gulag"], Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung – faz.net, August 19, 2020.
• Dan Peleschuk
  Original EN I spent two terrifying days imprisoned in Belarus, Buzz Feed News, August 16, 2020.
  Original RU ГУЛАГ вместо изолятора. Садистские методы белорусской диктатуры 
  [GULAG instead of an insulator. Sadistic methods of the Belarusian dictatorship], RFE/RL, August 14, 2020.
• Yuliia Suschenko
  Original RU «Это происходило в моем дворе: ОМОН гнался за безоружными людьми» — одесситка о протестах в Беларуси (видео, фото)
  [“It happened in my yard: riot police was chasing unarmed people” – Woman from Odessa about the protests in Belarus], August 14, 2020.
• Eugene 
  Original RU Сиди и смотри. Монолог жителя Минска о жестоких пытках в милиции, projekt.media, August 13, 2020.
  EN Sit here and watch. A Minsk resident’s account of police brutality, projekt.media, August 14, 2020.
• Marci Shore in Interview with historian Aliaksandr Bystryk
  Original EN “Lukashenka is the abusive husband who beats his wife when she wants to leave. . .”, for IWM Chronicle from Belarus, August 13, 2020.
• Journalist Nikita Telizhenko
  Original RU «Люди лежали живым ковром в лужах крови»
  [“People were laying in pools of blood like one living carpet”], Znak.com, August 12, 2020.