Technology CEO Mikita Mikado is helping to drive revolution in his local country.
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The CEO of this generation is helping to drive the revolution in his local country until now.
Until five days ago, Mikita Mikado became more productive in Belarus as a successful member of the diaspora: an Internet entrepreneur who traveled to the United States and built a successful Silicon Valley start-up called PandaDoc, an electronic document competitor at DocuSign. But after his local country swept a mock election that took thousands of people to take to the streets, the former non-political businessman gave the impression like anything else: a 34-year-old activist willing to put his cash in. where his mouth is as the armed forces marched opposite to their fellow citizens.
“I appeal to Belarusian security officials. If you need to be on the look of the good, but finance doesn’t allow it, write: I’ll help you,” Mikado posted on Instagram, providing assistance in repaying loans or wages. of any law enforcement officer who relinquished his task and refuses to follow it. what many regard as illegal violence through Alexander Lukashenko, nicknamed “Europe’s last dictator.”
Mikado’s social media post got tens of thousands of responses, with many coming from army and security officials, and some of them recorded videos of themselves denouncing Lukashenko’s regime when he lay down arms. This temporarily spawned an online fundraising effort, where he, along with other businessmen, Olympic athletes and Belarusian hounds, has already raised a million-dollar share while imploring troops to help anti-government protesters. They hope to raise millions more in the coming days. Meanwhile, more than 170 volunteers run to help those who are going to find new jobs, basically in IT, other industries will possibly soon be included.
“The violence that has happened surely makes no sense,” says Mikado, who felt moved to do anything after watching police videos brutally beating up election supporters. “I couldn’t keep my mouth shut, and I couldn’t do anything about it.”
The Gestapo took a position in the apartment, others fell into a coma of pain, were beaten and humiliated.
Belarusian police officer, writing to Mikita Mikado
The son of a doctor, Mikado was born in Minsk, the Belarusian capital. At the age of 19, he came to the United States to work on the creation of several websites, which helped him fund some software corporations before creating PandaDoc in 2013. Although the company started in Belarus, it moved temporarily. to the Bay Area, a maximum of its three hundred painters are Belarusians. He still visits the country during the peak summers and was there for a while before the coronavirus pandemic began.
Last week, Lukashenko, who had been president since 1994 after the fall of the Soviet Union, won with 80% of the vote against popular opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. The ill-tempered effects led to foreign protests, as the European Union, the United States and others called the election illegitimate. The Kremlin, in neighboring Russia, identified Lukashenko’s victory and promised to respect his treaty and protect Belarus that opposes a foreign invasion … this has led many to worry that Lukashenko will blame protests on foreign opponents. On Monday, the besathed president allegedly promised to “transfer my powers” under a new constitution, but he would do so “under street pressure!”
After posting his video urging law enforcement to defy illegal orders to injure, torture and kill citizens who were protesting peacefully, Mikado discovered that many were afraid to oppose their superiors. He discovered that the challenge was not just to lose his salary; In Belarus, the dictatorship’s command includes contracts that impose massive debts on anyone who resigns or is fired for not following orders (for example, debts of up to $25,000 can be incurred in a country where the average monthly salary is less than $500). “You’re in debt for life” if you don’t comply, says Mikado.
In addition, Belarusian officials say the administration has incriminating records, which can be used to prosecute them if they pass against orders. “The Gestapo taking a position in the department, other people fell into a coma of pain, were beaten and humiliated,” wrote an officer in Mikado, who fled the country after his attempt at resignation was rejected. “The colleagues who stayed [at work] started saying they wanted to take criminal action against me.”
In less than a week, Mikado and his fellow volunteers have convinced 30 officers to leave the force with the promised salary, and the numbers are expanding exponentially. “Day after day, we triple the number of others,” he says, while his organization is in talks with three hundred law enforcement officials and has received cash from thousands of donors. They were encouraged by Tikhanovskaya’s promises that any officer who rebelled and opposed Lukashenko would receive financial support once the force was transferred, perhaps even through total cancellation. “The more it becomes public, the more people will replace the sides.”
His paintings are just a sign of how virtual efforts have helped call free elections and freedom of assembly and the press in Belarus, especially since messaging platforms like Telegram have been used through activists to speak after the repressive blackout of social media. One YouTube and Telegram channel in particular, Nexta – “Someone” in Belarusian – has flourished, with 1.5 million subscribers posting videos of police brutality and crimes committed through security forces, despite the creation of the channel five years ago through teenager Stepan Putilo. as a music site and one of the other 4 people in Warsaw.
“That’s what’s so appealing about this event: it’s decentralized,” says Mikado. “It’s just other people like me, other people who have noticed the violence.”
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