From the pioneers of technology to “extremists”: confronting the Belarusian founders in exile and the second

In 2013, Tatiana Marneic and Anastasiya khamiankova I opened the doors ImaguruMinsk, Belarus, which will continue to launch some technical success stories in Eastern Europe. After a decade, they were sentenced to 23 years in prison by the Belarusian authorities. Their property has been seized. Their “extremist” work was announced. The Marynich passport has ended and canceled, leaving it, and they were hated in Spain.

Their crime? Building an independent future of classification, the Lukashinco system is a dangerous defense of entrepreneurship in a country usually dominated by state -owned industries.

“What started as an attempt to silence innovation has evolved into a complete criminalization of independent acts,” Maranesh told Techcrunch on a call.

Imaguru was not the first Bearus starting center. It has become the center of gravity for the country’s environmental system in the country. The acceleration and subscriber space helped establish more than 300 startups and raised more than $ 100 million of investing for companies emerging for their programs. Successes like msqrd (Earn itbook(PRISMA (stated that Snapchat) can follow their roots to the early Hackaths in Imaguru, which was attended by enthusiastic youth, hoping to have a better future.

“It was the main central point of the adventure community in Belarus,” he said, he said Max TeachersGeneral partner at Vitosha Venture Partners in Bulgaria, and an early teacher in Imaguru. “They collected talents, investors and angels, the most important most important programs – my pleasure has always been going there.”

Another VC, based in the United States Marvin Liao From winter rolling boxes. “They were really very professional and emotional.” “Imaguru was the first central place where the founders of startups and the ambitious technical projects in Belarus met.

Its impact was not economical. The late Marri husband, Michael MarneicHe has paid a high price to challenge him years ago.

He was imprisoned as an ambassador and former minister, from 2004 to 2006, after he was killed to run against President Alexander Lukashenko in the general elections. He suffered multiple strikes in the prison, an experiment that formed Tatiana’s decision to leave the International Financial Corporation within the World Bank and launch its own project.

She said, “I have been forced to start entrepreneurship.” “Not only to survive economically, but because I believe in the same democratic values ​​that my husband sacrificed his health.”

“If the policy fails,” she said, you must create your own future. Entrepreneurs are free thinkers – people ask about strength. “

For the Lukashenko system, this belief made a dangerous imagination.

When independence becomes opposed

After the 2020 elections, which were It is widely seen as fraudulentThe mass protests erupted through Belarus. Imaguru decided to open its doors not only for project owners, but also for civil society groups, NGOs and opposition figures.

Marynich joined Coordination CouncilAn official opposition body led by opposition leader Svyalana Zikhanskaya. It was the last straw of the Lukashenko system.

“I signed an advertisement saying they wanted free elections,” Gorfitz said. “But from that moment, upward, it is clear that it has become an enemy of the state, and anything related to it, such as imaguru, has become completely prohibited.”

By 2021, political pressure became unbearable. The IMAGURU rental contract was ended by the government. As mentioned by Techcrunch at the time, The convincing officers raided their offices.

By 2023, KGB assigned imaguru as a “extremist formation”, which makes even the exchange of messages with Group A crime punishable in Belarus. A former exit was arrested. IMAGURU’s family members were interrogated in exile. Their website has been banned in multiple countries. The assets are frozen. On December 2 last year, the prison sentence was announced.

On the same day, the Bearusian Marynich passport has expired. Under the executive order of 2023 from Lukashenko, the Belarusian embassies can no longer issue or renew documents for citizens abroad, which effectively carries dissidents in foreign countries, not documented.

“I am a person who is an inherited,” said Marynich. “I have a European residence permit, but without a good passport, I cannot even apply for citizenship. I cannot leave Spain. I cannot open a bank account.”

Despite the circumstances, the founders continue their mission. Imaguru now runs centers in Warsaw and Madrid, with the support of European institutions. The team also launches a campaign to announce entrepreneurship in human rights and mobilize support through the Internet Seam.

“They really love their country,” Liao said. “And now they can never return. It’s a snare. I have written letters of recommendation for both international programs. I will do it again in a second. These are good people, and this is not fair.”

A global test of values

While imaguru received institutional support in Poland and Lithuania, the Spanish government has not yet officially responded to the appeal. Marynich remains forgetful, hoping that the vision will help transform the bureaucratic indifference.

Techcrunch contacted Maria Gonzalez Ferkrarz, Minister of State for Divorce and Artificial Intelligence in Spain, but he did not receive any response at the time of publication.

Liao said: “This is clear that this is a political campaign,” Liao said. “Democratic governments must do everything in their power to support them.”

Gurvits agrees to: “Even the novice employees who once worked in Imaguru cannot return to Bearus. This is not only related to founders. It is related to an entire society has been denying because of belief in innovation and freedom.”

Marynich remains challenging.

She said, “We have built something beautiful.” “We are now fighting for the right to exist. We do not give up.”