Imena platform to return money raised for people who suffered from police brutality
The Department of Humanitarian Affairs has refused to register the foreign aid collected by the Imena platform. As a result, 89,117 BYN ($ 34,732) are to be returned by the platform to those who have supported the project from abroad, the founders of the initiative report on their Facebook.
The Imena platform has created a project called “Center for Medical Assistance for Victims of Peaceful Demonstrations.” On this initiative, 89,117 BYN ($ 34,732) were collected. But in the end, the organization must return the funds. The Department for Humanitarian Activities under the Administration of the Head of State refused to register foreign aid. By law, the platform is not allowed to use this money without registration from the Department.
Donations for the project were made by 542 people from 30 countries of the world: Australia, Brazil, Germany, Denmark, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Russia, Ukraine, Japan and many others.
“There is no clear reason for the refusal, there is only a reference to the resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus of August 27, 2020. It states that the Department has the right to request information from state bodies to verify the information received and to determine the purposes of using the money. Based on the analysis of the information received, the Department has the right to refuse to register aid. We have not received any additional clarifications. The situation for Imena is unprecedented. We have never been forced to return money to people who made transfers to us or to the projects for which we collect,” the platform’s creators note.
