How the fate of the former judge turned out - in an interview with Svoboda.

"The first step was to escape from repression, the second was to decide what to do next"

In 2020,

Alyaksei Patsko

worked as a judge in Pinsk.

He says that after the mass "grab" the management "offered" to give all the detainees 15 days.

Alexey refused.

The traditional began:

"Well, think about it, you have a family, children, don't get hot, calm down."

Alexey Patsko

Aleksey did not agree, and in the end he lost his job and was persecuted.

They came not only for Aleksey, but also for his mother, who worked as a lawyer.

So the family — Aleksei with his wife, three children and mother — found themselves in the summer of 2021 in Irpyan, Ukraine.

Like many Belarusians, there were problems with legalization, because it was quite difficult to get a Ukrainian residence permit even before the war.

That is why the Patsko family turned to the German embassy.

They got into the support program for Belarusians who can live and work in Germany on humanitarian grounds.

In the fall of 2021, the family has already moved further to Europe.

"The first step was to escape from repression.

The second is to decide what to do next?

If you are responsible only for yourself, that's one thing.

But we have three children, these are issues of education, health, and development.

The program in Germany provides for certain benefits during training, integration into German society, language courses.

And you live legally in the country.

The children went to school here, there were no problems with that," says Aleksei.

"Germans are good people, their goal is to give an opportunity to reveal human potential"

At first, says Alyaksei, it was quite difficult for the family in a foreign country.

"We didn't know the language at all.

There is a different society, orders, laws, a different contribution to life, and everything is different.

Belarusians from the diaspora helped us a lot when we arrived in Germany.

They fed, watered, gave shelter, explained how things work here.

We didn't have much financial reserves, so it was quite difficult at first.

We were allocated a rather poor housing here, without luxury, but it is possible to live," says the former judge.

Aleksei Patsko with his family

Children went to school.

Since the beginning of the war, Russian-speaking students have been added to the school.

Some of them are refugees from Ukraine, some are former residents of Kazakhstan who moved under the program of late immigrants.

"The children adapted to school within a year.

The program here is thought out, the load on the children is even.

Education is also provided for adults.

The Germans are good, they set a goal - to give an opportunity to reveal their potential.

If you want to study, they will support you at all stages," says Aleksei.

He and his family attend integration courses.

They study the language, local peculiarities of laws, medicine, employment.

The family receives social assistance.

"It's not enough for the local level, but it's normal by our standards.

About 450 euros for an adult and about 250-300 for a child," said the Belarusian.

Their first goal is to learn the language.

"We go to her, without a good language it is difficult to get a good job.

In addition to the language, there are many options to confirm a diploma, take courses, and get an education.

The spectrum is quite broad if you know the language," says Aleksei.

"We regret that we are not at home, that we have lost our social circle - friends, relatives"

Aleksey does not regret his act.

But, of course, the family regrets that they are not at home, that they have lost a social circle of relations - loved ones, relatives.

"Material things are in the background for us.

It's a pity that these chains have crumbled, your world, in which you lived, it is not with you.

Online relationships are not that.

Of course, I would like to return home.

Of course, it's difficult for us, no matter how good we are financially, because in this regard, our situation is better than that of many people," says Alyaksei.

They live in a small town, there are no Belarusians here.

Former colleagues do not maintain relations with him.

"They immediately ended relations with me then, in 2020, I became "toxic" for them.

Although we used to be close.

But I do not blame them.

They did it out of fear, not out of disagreement with my views," says the former judge.

Aleksei Patsko with his family

"Today's courts are sometimes not about justice, but about settling accounts, revenge"

Alyaksei says that he is concerned about the closed nature of almost all political processes.

"This is a sign of lack of publicity, public control, but publicity is one of the principles of the judicial process.

In a "normal" court, only certain processes can be closed, that is, only a part of the process can be "closed", not the whole.

It is difficult to talk about justice and objectivity.

Of course, each decision needs to be reviewed individually, but from the point of view of the common man, it is not possible to call the courts fair," Alyaksei thinks.

He still does not know exactly how the absentee trials of the "extremists" will take place. It is planned to confiscate the property of Belarusian emigrants in absentia trials, but the former judge himself has not yet seen the legal norms.

"It is surprising that they are now talking about the confiscation of property, but such a measure was excluded from the legislation.

However, knowing how this system works, they will come up with some options, of course.

Until 2020, the courts followed the path of decriminalization and unification of legislation, did what international institutions advise.

And then such sharp maneuvers.

This is some kind of "extraordinary".

The story is not about justice, but about settling scores, revenge," the former judge believes.

"Outwardly, it is calm in Belarus, but people say that inside there is a complete imbalance of the mechanisms"

Alyaksei says that his family lives with the fact that they are in Germany for a long time.

"This is a strategy of self-preservation.

Because if you sit and say: "We're going home tomorrow," it's self-destructive.

You will not develop, do something, you will just sit and wait, waste time.

If something changes, then we will think.

Changes in Belarus are an inevitable process.

But it is a matter of time.

I am talking to people in Belarus.

They say that outwardly everything is calm, such a monolith and stability.

But internally - the feeling of a traffic jam over the swamp, a complete imbalance of the mechanisms.

People do not have any positive feelings.

Sooner or later this stability will crack and crumble.

The question is how long it will last.

The longer it takes, the fewer people will return.

Especially if the families have children who went to study here and found friends.

These are the years of psycho-emotional development.

For now, the Patsko family plans to pass the German language exams in the fall and start looking for studies and work.