I need help - political prisoner

Help Aliaksei Reunite with His Family and Begin Again in Safety

My name is Aliaksei Sanchuk. I am a Belarusian musician, drummer and cultural figure.

In 2020, I took part in the drumming project “Demand to Disperse”, whose performances became one of the recognizable symbols of the peaceful protests in Belarus.

Because I participated in peaceful demonstrations, I was repeatedly persecuted. I was detained, fined and later arrested again. On November 4, 2020, I was detained and beaten. The Viasna Human Rights Center officially recognized me as a political prisoner.

On May 13, 2021, the Minsk City Court sentenced me to six years in a strict-regime penal colony. My car was confiscated, and I was ordered to pay a civil claim of 160,000 Belarusian rubles. During my imprisonment, I spent nine months in punishment cells under extremely harsh conditions.

I was released in June 2026. But freedom did not mean safety. I was placed under preventive surveillance, and because of the continuing danger of persecution, I was forced to leave Belarus urgently.

Today, I am in Georgia without permanent legal status, stable work or a home of my own.

My wife and our 13-year-old daughter are still in Belarus. After my departure, my wife received calls from the authorities and was summoned twice in connection with my situation. They are now preparing to join me.

After years behind bars and years of separation, my greatest wish is not something extraordinary. I simply want to embrace my daughter again, stand beside my wife and give my family the chance to live together in safety.

The total amount needed is €13,790. The funds will help us cover the essential costs of rebuilding our lives during the first months in Georgia, including housing, food, transportation, legal documentation, school-related expenses for our daughter and other basic family needs.

This support is not only about paying bills. It is about helping a father return to his daughter, a husband reunite with his wife and a family recover the years that fear and imprisonment took away from them.

Every donation, no matter the amount, will bring us closer to being together again.

And if you are unable to donate, sharing this campaign may help it reach someone who can.

Thank you for reading my story. Thank you for giving my family hope that, after everything we have endured, we may finally begin again together.