Twenty-two-year-old former political prisoner Uladzislau Yafimovich, who now lives in Lithuania, received a message in a messenger app offering him the possibility of returning to Belarus. The young man shared screenshots of the correspondence with human rights defenders and Reform.news.
On 30 March, someone identified as “Anton” wrote to Uladzislau on Telegram. The account was registered to a Ukrainian phone number, +380 66 692 89 44. From the context it was possible to understand that “Anton” represented one of the Belarusian security agencies.
The anonymous contact tried to engage Uladzislau in personal conversations about politics, the meaning of life, the purpose of state institutions and the Russian-Ukrainian war. Among other things, they discussed returning to Belarus.
“Vlad, if I understood you correctly, you would like to return home with minimal consequences? That is possible. There are examples of more complicated situations where everything turned out well, you know about them or should have heard about them. Why cannot your situation be fixed? It certainly can”, “Anton” assured him. “The situation can be fixed, but definitely not with questions whose answers will not help you in any way”.
As Uladzislau told Reform.news, the anonymous person offered him money and a chance to return home.
“He did not introduce himself, and he found my contact in my mother’s phone during an inspection”, the former political prisoner explained.
“Anton” accused Uladzislau of being “an instrument of the Lithuanian special services”.
“Hope for the chance that interstate political confrontation will continue and everything will be fine for you”, the anonymous contact said cryptically.
During his imprisonment, Uladzislau endured severe abuse and torture. He spoke about his experiences in an interview with Viasna. In response, “Anton” claimed that police in the United States allegedly act even more harshly.
“We’ll work together, and after some time you’ll return as… well, you are unlikely to become a hero, but you will have respect”, the anonymous person assured him.
At the same time, pressure is also being exerted on Uladzislau’s relatives in Belarus.
“They called my 12-year-old brother at school from Minsk and questioned him about me, even though they have no right to do that without adults and without consent”, he said. “My mother called back to ask who it was and why they were doing this without her knowledge. He replied, ‘I’m Sasha from Minsk, and that is enough'”.
Earlier, on 17 March, Uladzislau was contacted by the military enlistment office.
“It is time to serve because you did not finish your service after your arrest”, they explained.
Before “Anton” appeared, the former political prisoner had also received messages from anonymous accounts registered in Ukraine offering him part-time work — painting the slogan “Vilnia Nasha” on walls.
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Uladzislau Yafimovich from Ivatsevichy was arrested on 15 November 2022. At that point, he had served for about one month in the 38th Separate Air Assault Brigade in Brest. He was sentenced to 3.5 years in a penal colony under two criminal articles: Part 3 of Article 361-1 (“Creation of an extremist formation or participation in it”) and Parts 1 and 2 of Article 361-4 (“Facilitating extremist activity”).
He was released under a pardon on 20 January 2025.
