If you think being an antifascist is tough where you live, try doing it in the country that’s been called “Europe’s last dictatorship.” Recently, a dozen antifascists in Mozyr, Belarus found out just how tough that is when police raided their homes and arrested them. Two – Kita and Xvedia – remain locked up, while the others were released pending trial, after having their phones seized by the state. Their alleged “crimes?” Advocating against the Ukraine invasion, being against the Belrussian police, sharing links and videos from anarchist groups, and (of course) criticizing Lukashenko’s brutal regime. Now they face up to five years in prison!

The International Anti-Fascist Defence Fund was asked for emergency aid to help replace the confiscated phones as well as assistance paying the mounting legal bills for the arrestees so of course we responded as quickly as possible. We are fortunate in that most of the people who operate the Defence Fund do not live in a dictatorship – this privilege both allows and compels us to do what we can to support antifascists who are not as fortunate. You can help our friends in Belarus, too – one of their support groups is running an Instagram account that has information on how to help. And as always, if you want to make sure antifascists are able to receive emergency support when they need it the most same way, you can make a contribution to the Defence Fund here!