Belarusian political prisoner’s daughter finds shelter in Poland – foundation

May 26, Pozirk. Alaksandra Siemianiuk, the daughter of political prisoner Alena Hnaŭk, fled Belarus with three children in April because of political reprisals, BySol Solidarity Foundation reports.

Siemianiuk and the children are in a shelter for Belarusian refugees in Poland. The foundation has launched a fundraiser to help them.

“In the morning of January 23, 2024, I woke up from the knock at the door,” the woman said. “I was shocked to realize that they came to search my home. They confiscated several letters from my mother, and her diary. They seized my phone and took me to the KGB [Committee for State Security] for a six-hour interrogation.”

According to Siemianiuk, from the KGB she was transferred to the Investigative Committee (SK) and charged with calling for sanctions against the government. The prosecution is linked to aid from the Dissidentby rights group.

Siemianiuk spent three days in a detention center and described the conditions there as “designed to break and stifle a person.”