Human rights funds don't help Belarusian political prisoners? We fact-checked this claim

"There is no systemic support for political prisoners. Neither for former ones, nor for current ones. And there is no indication of when it will appear." This accusation against human rights funds involved in supporting political prisoners and their families was made by Alesia Parkhomenka, a representative of the"Democratic Embassy of Belarus" in Cyprus, during a Euroradio livestream on November 3.

As evidence, the activist listed a number of ex-political prisoners and Belarusian emigrants who had faced problems.

Euroradio decided to verify with the mentioned aid recipients how accurately Parkhomenko's words reflect reality and what kind of assistance they currently need. Disclaimer: not entirely.

"My request was ignored"

The first person Parkhomenko mentions is feminist activist Anastasia Merkulava.

"Last night we sent her money, she found herself housing. If anyone else supports her, I would be very grateful. She found a hostel. But my question is — why was she kicked out of the shelter," the representative of the Cypriot diaspora said in our broadcast.

Indeed, based on a post in the "Pink Scarves" initiative, Merkulava was looking for money for new housing, as her stay at a shelter for victims of domestic violence had ended, and she had not yet received permission to travel from Poland to Lithuania (the woman had unsuccessfully tried to obtain legal status in Poland). The activist managed to raise more than three hundred euros for a hostel.

In a conversation with Euroradio, the feminist activist confirmed that the Belarusian diaspora in Cyprus had helped her.

"The majority of the hostel payment was covered by their assistance. Now I have paid accommodation in the hostel until Monday the 10th [of November]. I hope that within this period I will receive permission to travel to Lithuania under the Dublin procedure," she noted.

According to Merkulava, she did not contact BySOL, but did submit a request to the Belarusian House in Warsaw.

"My request was ignored," the feminist activist noted.

As for the eviction from the shelter, the reason was the expiration of her residential contract.

"Unfortunately, they were unable to let me stay here until my departure. I feel very uncomfortable and sad about this. There is simply another woman with a child already taking my place, as far as I know."

The woman says she now needs to obtain permission to leave Poland as quickly as possible, although she herself admits that such assistance is hardly possible.

"Here I have a positive experience"

Parkhomenka also spoke about ex-political prisoner Siarhei Sheleg, who was released in the summer of 2025 in the same group as Siarhei Tsikhanouski.

"This is a person who deserves a monument. He helped children with cancer, a great number of people. But in his first days he was left completely without money, completely forgotten. I am not going to boast that we sent him money… Yes, we sent him a good sum and God grant him health and that everything goes well for him," the Parkhomenka claimed

Sheleg himself, speaking with Euroradio, refuted Parkhomenka's words.

"I was not denied assistance. Here I have a positive experience," the ex-political prisoner noted.

Among his main challenges, Siarhei named "finding his place in a new reality."

"This includes achieving financial stability, reuniting with family, and so on," he emphasized.

According to Siarhei, he continues to receive medical assistance within the political prisoners support program. The man is currently awaiting a residence permit. He would also welcome legal assistance in reinstating his Belarusian pension or in having himself removed from the KGB's list of terrorists.

"Delays in money transfers occur periodically"

Also mentioned during the broadcast was former Belarusan state-owned TV channel journalist and ex-political prisoner Ksenia Lutskina. According to Parkhomenka, she had a problem with receiving assistance to purchase equipment for work.

"For some reason Ksenia Lutskina found herself without a laptop in order to somehow continue her life. We also sent her a laptop. Why she ended up in such a situation — I don't know, I don't know who to ask these questions. […] We are glad that we were able to help her with rehabilitation, and she was able to go to Cyprus to rest with her son."

"I also have questions for the person who fired her. This is an organization that belongs to the democratic forces. I will not name him publicly, I did not ask him. I think he will recognize himself. And if he doesn't want to, this will be passed on to him," Parkhomenka said.

This autumn Bulybenko was hospitalized in Lithuania with depression, anorexia and PTSD, and sought help to pay for treatment and cover her insurance debt. She raised 12 thousand euros.

Euroradio was unable to promptly verify the circumstances of the case with Bulybenko. Bulybenkohas already been discharged from the hospital and is undergoing rehabilitation. But in correspondence with our journalist she clarified that she "does not give public comments or interviews."

BySOL told us that all the people mentioned in the stream had received a one-time payment from the fund as released political prisoners, except for Merkulava, as she was not a political prisoner.

Regarding the Bulybenko case, a representative of the fund clarified that all additional fundraising is carried out only upon the applicant's request and cannot be initiated without their consent. Previously, a personal fundraiser on the fund's platform in support of Anastasia was successfully completed.

And three more stories

In addition to the people mentioned above, Alesia Parkhomenka also mentioned three more individuals: ex-political prisoner Daniil, who had dental problems; an unnamed wife of a political prisoner with two children who has no winter jacket; and a person who maintains contact with the wives of fallen volunteers, through whom the women declined assistance from the Belarusian diaspora in Cyprus.

These cases could not be verified, as the representative of the Democratic Embassy has not yet received consent from the individuals mentioned to disclose their personal information.