Donations and subscriptions: the risks for Belarusians
Whom to write to now
- Belarus and abroad · extremist in Belarus
Viasna Human Rights Centre
In Belarus this organisation is designated 'extremist'. If you are in Belarus or will travel there, write to it only from a device you will not take across the border and that is not checked.
I understand the risk, continue - abroad (Vilnius) · extremist in Belarus
BYSOL Belarusian Solidarity Foundation
In Belarus this organisation is designated 'extremist'. If you are in Belarus or will travel there, write to it only from a device you will not take across the border and that is not checked.
I understand the risk, continue - abroad · extremist in Belarus
Free Belarus Center
In Belarus this organisation is designated 'extremist'. If you are in Belarus or will travel there, write to it only from a device you will not take across the border and that is not checked.
I understand the risk, continue
Draft: not yet checked by a lawyer
The guides below are drafts: a lawyer has not reviewed them yet. This is not legal advice.Draft What human rights defenders advise
Donations and subscriptions: the risks for Belarusians
- A donation to an organisation on the 'extremist formations' list is treated as financing extremist activity (art. 361-2 of the Criminal Code): up to 5 years in prison, 5 to 8 years for a repeat donation, and being put on the 'extremist list'.
- Human rights groups usually advise against paying from Belarusian cards and accounts: such payments are easy to trace.
- Before travelling to Belarus, take an ordinary phone with a safe history, prepared in advance. Deleted subscriptions and chats are sometimes recovered, so remove them long before the trip.
- Check a fund's status against the Interior Ministry list: media, chats and aid initiatives are all designated 'extremist'.
- In Belarus people are prosecuted even for 2020 donations made before BYSOL and other funds were designated 'extremist': a Minsk Investigative Committee officer has said publicly that the date of designation does not matter. According to Viasna, as of August 2024 at least 91 people had been convicted over donations, the longest sentence being nine and a half years.
- Many are summoned to the KGB, shown bank statements or Facebook screenshots, and told to 'voluntarily' pay ten times the donation into a state institution's account. According to Nasha Niva, almost everyone who paid was released, while those who refuse face criminal charges.
- Beware of fake fundraisers: in 2022 scammers in diaspora chats collected money for non-existent political prisoners and in the name of a real prisoner's 'mother', fooling even BYSOL. Nasha Niva advises not to send money straight away but to check the request with Viasna or Dissidentby first.
Designations of organisations in this guide: Viasna Human Rights Centre (extremist in Belarus); BYSOL Belarusian Solidarity Foundation (extremist in Belarus); Dissidentby (extremist in Belarus). Contacting them carries a risk: do not write from a phone that may be seized, and do not repost their materials.
current as of 7 October 2026. More: npr.by: liability for extremism in 2026; Interior Ministry: 'extremist formations' list; Nasha Niva: KGB summonses over donations (24.08.2024, in Russian) (extremist in Belarus); Reform.news: Investigative Committee on 'buying off' donation cases (10.11.2023, in Russian) (extremist in Belarus); Nasha Niva: who is jailed over donations (15.09.2023, in Russian) (extremist in Belarus); Nasha Niva: scammers exploit solidarity with political prisoners (01.11.2022, in Russian) (extremist in Belarus)