The voluntary movement #vieglipalīdzēt (previously known as - #paliecmājās) has launched a campaign to provide social assistance to people who since the rigged Belarussian presidential elections on 9 August have experienced violent suppression, information restriction and imprisonment.
Support can be provided through the NGO, donating money by transfer, through mobile app Mobilly and other means.
More details are available on www.vieglipalidzet.lv
"Through contact with our partners in Belarus, we found that the greatest need at the moment is for money to pay for qualified legal assistance for those arrested during the protests - as of now almost 3,000 people have been arrested. As events develop other forms of assistance may also be required about which information will be provided by the campaign’s organisers on the homepage: www.vieglipalidzet.lv and the Facebook page Paliec mājās = Viegli palīdzēt," spokesperson Inese Vaivare said.
“We have decided to coordinate public support for Belarus’s activists. As an organisation whose strength is people’s
support for people, we cannot stand aside when our neighbouring country’s citizens are being crushed by the violence of the country’s authoritarian regime. We are continually monitoring the situation in Belarus and, if necessary, will expand our provision of help, including assistance for refugees, in collaboration with other organisations,” Vaivare said.
Donations will be forwarded to several trustworthy organisations activists with the goal of supporting Belarus, and with vast experience of work related to human rights and legal matters, the organization said.
The #FreeBelarus campaign is being implemented by the non-governmental organisation “Paliec mājās”, which during the emergency situation caused by Covid-19 mobilised almost 1,000 volunteers in the movement #paliecmājās enabling contact between people, who required help because of social distancing, e.g. deliveries of food or medicine, and volunteers, who were ready to provide this help. When the emergency situation ended, the movement #paliecmājās is continuing to work as #vieglipalīdzēt, offering ongoing help in daily situations and emotional support, jointly reading fragments of literary works prepared by the National Library of Latvia and preparing a platform for rapid responses to new unforeseen circumstances. Right now, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a project sharing the experience of the emergency experience is also being implemented in Moldova.
The NGO has the status of a public benefit organisation meaning that donors can receive tax discounts.
