Belarusian authorities ordered local banks to block donations for affected citizens

(Patria) – Authorities in Belarus have ordered local banks to block money collected through small donations for victims of the police crackdown on civil protests.

The collected donations were transferred to citizens who were beaten or financially penalized during protests for participating in protests against Alexander Lukashenko - which are still ongoing.

Following the August presidential elections, which are believed to have been rigged, hundreds of people who participated in the demonstrations suffered serious injuries due to brutal and systemic police intervention. Thousands of citizens were fined, and hundreds ended up behind bars. This prompted activists to organize fundraising to compensate or support those who had to pay fines to the government.

The 'BY_help' fund, backed by Andrei Laonchik, of Belarusian origin with an address in London, collected about 2 million pounds in just a few days – mostly small donations from Belarusian citizens who wanted to show solidarity. The fund then made payments to citizens who owed fines to the government for participating in protests, or who had survived serious injuries.

By the beginning of this week, this aid fund had received more than 8,700 applications for financial support and had made payments in over 3,300 cases where citizens were in custody, had suffered physical injuries, or owed fines.

However, Belarusian authorities have now ordered banks to block funds transferred by Leonchik (38) and to open an investigation against him, allegedly for being connected to opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who has been declared a public enemy and lives in exile, among other things.

- I have no connection with Tsikhanouskaya, this was our intention from the very beginning, says Leonchik, explaining that he deliberately decided to keep his fund separate from another fund – 'Belarusian Solidarity' – which pays strikers or helps them leave the country. 'They are a solidarity movement, we are a humanitarian movement,' Leonchik explains the difference.

Lukashenko's police violence continues. Local media reported on Wednesday that Roman Bondarenko (31), a protest participant who was forcibly taken into a van by security forces on Tuesday evening and driven away in an unknown direction, died in the hospital from head injuries, reports The Guardian.