How You Can Support Political Prisoners

Supporting political prisoners in Belarus is becoming increasingly difficult. The authorities are trying everything they can to break solidarity. Nevertheless, there are still ways in which you can support these people, both directly and indirectly, from abroad. Read on for an outline of various options and some useful tips.

Congratulate political prisoners on their birthdays or send a letter or postcard, even if there is no special occasion. You will find detailed instructions here.

What to keep in mind when writing:

• Please copy the Belarusian/Russian spelling of the address exactly as it appears. The human rights organisation Viasna publishes the current addresses of prisoners on their website.
• You may include your own address, but you are not required to do so.
• The texts must be written in Russian or Belarusian – feel free to use Google Translate, DeepL or just visit one of our regular writing workshops.
• Write about positive topics such as news, films, books, pets, your city, travel or everyday life. However, avoid making political statements or allusions. You can, of course, wish someone good health or strength.
• Let your creativity run wild — words aren’t always necessary! You could draw something, for example. Pre-printed colouring cards are available free of charge from our donation shop.
• Please feel free to send us a copy or photos of your letter. We can forward it to relatives or the political prisoners after their release.

Please note that mail to prisoners is sometimes withheld due to censorship and arbitrary decisions by prison guards. Mail to prisoners is sometimes withheld to put pressure on or punish them. Nevertheless, writing is important. Released prisoners repeatedly tell us that receiving letters shows both them and the regime that the outside world has not forgotten them. In many cases, prisoners also find out indirectly that mail has arrived for them – knowing this can provide valuable psychological support!

These initiatives will help you to write and send your letters

The Solidarity Postcards Atelier provides a form that you can use to send messages to political prisoners. The initiative will write your text by hand on a postcard and send it by post to Belarus.

You can send letters of support to the families of political prisoners via the Dissidentby.com website. Not only can you indicate to whom you have already sent a letter, but you can also track the status of your letters.

In collaboration with the Belarusian community RAZAM.ch, we hold regular public vigils to raise awareness of the human rights situation in Belarus and to inform people about the fate of political prisoners.

Come along, become part of our movement, and help us raise awareness for those who are imprisoned for their political beliefs.

Below is a list of all the planned vigils for 2025:

26 June 2025
Vigil on UN Day Against Torture
6–7 p.m, Züghusplatz, 8001 Zurich, further information

8 August 2025
Vigil: Five years of rigged presidential elections
6–7 p.m, Züghusplatz, 8001 Zurich, further information

25 September 2025
Vigil on the 63rd birthday of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski
6–7 p.m, Europaplatz at the Mainstation, 8004 Zurich, further information

10 December 2025
Vigil on Human Rights Day
6–7 p.m., Rathausbrücke (temporary location), 8001 Zurich, further information

You can also find further information on these dates in our calendar.

• Find out about the situation in Belarus from sources such as the Viasna human rights organisation’s website, and share information about political prisoners on social media using the hashtag #WeStandBYyou.
• Follow us on social media and like, comment on and share our posts on X, Instagram, Bluesky, Threads, LinkedIn or Facebook.
• Become an active or passive member of LIBERECO and get involved! Help with campaigns or implement your own ideas with the support of other members. Further information can be found here.
• Form a symbolic friendship with a political prisoner via the Politzek.me portal and carry out simple tasks to raise awareness of their situation.

By making a donation, you are supporting our work directly and thereby helping political prisoners and their families. Thank you very much for your valuable support!