Alexander Aleksandrovich Lavrentiev
Political activist from Grodno. In 2017, he spoke at protests related to the introduction of a “tax on parasitism.” In 2019, I set up a tent in front of the administration of the Oktyabrsky district of Grodno to solve the housing problem. In 2020, Lavrentiev, together with activist Nikolai Solyanik, held a number of actions for the introduction of quarantine in Belarus during the coronavirus pandemic. Before the 2020 presidential elections, the activist was serving administrative arrest for an action during a meeting with Sergei Tikhanovsky. In the fall of 2020, he left Belarus for Poland.
In Poland, he volunteered to help two Belarusian refugees. but in December 2020, Alexander disappeared from a rented apartment in Bialystok. The girls' money also disappeared with him. He did not answer calls or messages. He told his friend that he calmly crossed the Polish-Belarusian border, but his case in Belarus was closed due to lack of evidence. In 2021, Alexander purchased a food truck and worked in one of the microdistricts of Grodno. I was selling shawarma. On May 2, 2022, Lavrentyev was detained right at his workplace. Detained by the Main Directorate for Organized Crime Control of the Grodno Region. After the arrest, the Grodno resident said on camera that he was detained for distributing extremist information online and insulting the president. He admitted guilt.
On October 11, 2022, an appeal hearing was held and the verdict entered into force.
In the summer of 2024, it became known that Grodno resident Alexander Lavrentiev was given another 1 year of imprisonment in a colony under Article 411 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (“malicious disobedience to the requirements of the administration of a correctional institution”).
4 years 4 months imprisonment in a colony under general regime conditions
How to write a letter
✏️ A postcard with words of encouragement (a poem by your favorite author, song lyrics, or a beautiful quote). Trust us, even such simple gestures are very meaningful to a person in jail.
✏️ Your life events. To a person who is in isolation for a long time, any story about your routine endeavors will be a window into normal life. Your day-to-day worries and mundane matters are much more interesting than the daily grind of life behind bars.
✏️ It is important to share news. Mention the most notable and interesting occurrences depending on your pen-pal's interests.
✍️️ Remember that every letter is censored. This means that your letters are read by strangers whose main goal is to limit inmates' access to information or to use it against the prisoners or even you.
So try to avoid:
👉️️ harsh statements regarding ongoing political matters
👉 statements against the authorities and public servants
👉 foul language
👉 discussion of the circumstances of the criminal case