I gave people back access to their money
When the FBI seized the BTC-e exchange in 2017, I rebuilt it as WEX and restored users' access to $800M. Governments returned not a cent to the people. I gave them a window.
This is not just one man's story.
This page has one job: turn personal experience, public sources and the Ziobro contrast into a practical campaign for defense rights before trial.
The collapse starts before a verdict. A detainee loses normal contact with family, counsel, documents, money and people who can act outside. Then the case, the business, the family and mental health start falling apart while the court process is still only beginning.
If detention destroys the defense before trial, it is not a neutral safeguard. It is punishment dressed as procedure.
Thesis
This is not revenge on Poland. It is a demand for a working standard.
A state that protects society must not destroy people, families and businesses before a court issues a verdict. If the state isolates a person so thoroughly that defense becomes a lottery, the state is producing chaos, not justice.
- the presumption of innocence must work in practice, not only on paper;
- contact with family and defense counsel is not a luxury, but the infrastructure of defense and reintegration;
- technology can help, but only with rules of security, privacy and accountability.
Current → Ideal
Current: isolation before trial. Ideal: a verifiable defense channel.
The practical minimum is simple: fast contact with counsel, scheduled family communication, access to documents and translation, a log of requests and decisions, and safe outside help that does not bypass the law.
Proof of work
- Collect 100 stories from detainees, families, lawyers and former inmates.
- Separate facts from accusations: charges are not verdicts.
- Publish blockers: contact, counsel, documents, health, translation, education.
- Turn cases into reform proposals, not only outrage.
Scandals in Polish detention: who sits in a cell, and who boards a plane.
This is not a party dispute. It is one system that works completely differently for a well-connected person than for an ordinary citizen. Below are facts from public sources — statements of the National Prosecutor's Office, NIK (Supreme Audit Office), the ECtHR, World Prison Brief. Charges are not verdicts.
| Who | Case | Time in Polish detention | How he got out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zbigniew Ziobro ! former Minister of Justice |
Justice Fund (Fundusz Sprawiedliwości) — 26 charges (National Prosecutor's Office) | 0 days | Hungary → USA. European Arrest Warrant issued, not executed. |
| Marcin Romanowski former Deputy Minister of Justice |
Justice Fund | 0 days | Budapest, political asylum (Fidesz). |
| Mariusz Kamiński, Maciej Wąsik former head of CBA, former Deputy Minister of the Interior |
The land affair — convicted by final judgment | ~2 weeks | Pardon by President A. Duda (23 Jan 2024). |
| Dariusz Matecki PiS MP |
Justice Fund + a fictitious job; charge of obstruction (a group on Signal) | 2 months (March–April 2025) | Prison hospital ward + bail of PLN 500,000. |
| Waldemar Gontarski attorney, TV commentator, rector of a law school; my legal representative in 2021 |
Corruption charges (CBA 2024) — "trading in influence" | 15 months without a verdict | Bail (Court of Appeal in Katowice). |
| Roman Giertych opposition attorney, MP of the Civic Coalition (KO) |
Polnord (CBA 2020) | 1 day → hospital | Investigation discontinued + PLN 35,000 compensation for unlawful detention. |
| Katarzyna P. the Amber Gold case |
Fraud | over 6 years without a verdict | ECtHR 2023: violation of Article 5(3) of the ECHR. |
| An ordinary Polish citizen | — | 2 years and more (pre-trial detention) | No verdict. No bail. No pardon. No compensation. |
The contrast is simple. Those who wrote Poland's criminal law and ran the justice system have a journalist's visa, a plane, a pardon or political asylum. The ordinary person has none of these. They sit — sometimes for years, without a verdict.
An absurdity you see at once
Your associate, Mr. Ziobro — also ended up in Polish detention.
Counsel Waldemar Gontarski — attorney, television commentator, rector of a law school. He was the legal representative of the Polish government before the Court of Justice of the EU under your camp's rule, prepared legal analyses for the Ministry of Justice — your department — and publicly praised your judicial reform. The media called him "Ziobro's trusted man." And in 2021 he was my legal representative.
The prosecution's charge is almost poetic: he allegedly "traded in influence" so that someone would not be arrested. And he himself spent 15 months in Polish detention — without a verdict.
This is not normal. In other countries, if you are not a threat and you are not obstructing the investigation, you do not wait for trial locked up for a year and a half. In Poland — you wait.
"Polish detention centers are close to Russian standards. Prison hospitals are modern-day death camps."
— counsel Waldemar Gontarski, interview from behind bars (Angora, 2024)
— counsel Waldemar Gontarski, interview from behind bars (Angora, 2024)
This is not my narrative. These are the words of your associate, who knew the system from the defender's side — and then from the inmate's side. There is much to talk about with you.
What detention really looks like
Report of the Council of Europe's CPT and the Ombudsman (RPO), 2024.
- Not all cells have hot water.
- Pre-trial detainees spend whole days in the cell — apart from one hour of exercise, with no activities at all.
- No procedures in case of a report of torture. No facility kept a register of inmates' injuries.
- Medical examinations are "cursory and superficial," there is a shortage of staff.
- Small cells without privacy → "frustration, psychological suffering, conflicts and violence."
- Unexplained deaths (including the prison in Czarne — the Ombudsman (RPO) demands explanations).
Polish law has no maximum time limit on pre-trial detention. The Constitutional Tribunal ruled this provision unconstitutional back in 2012. More than ten years have passed — nothing has been changed. The ECtHR, in the cases of Kauczor and Burża v. Poland, recognized excessively lengthy detention as a structural problem. Detention has become — in lawyers' words — "a tool of the prosecutor, while judicial oversight is illusory."
First consultation free. And if the former Minister of Justice believes otherwise — I invite him to a debate.
→ Full overview: scandals in Polish detention 2015–2026 (sourced material for journalists)
Sources
- National Prosecutor's Office — Ziobro, Romanowski
- Wprost — the pardon of Kamiński and Wąsik
- prawo.pl — Matecki, bail of PLN 500,000
- i.pl — Matecki, prison hospital ward
- Angora — "Interview from behind bars" with counsel Gontarski
- Niezależna — Gontarski, government representative for the CJEU
- Do Rzeczy — Gontarski on Ziobro's judicial reform
- PAP — detention of a rector/attorney by the CBA
- Bankier — discontinuation of the investigation against Giertych
- OKO.press — detention can last for years; Amber Gold, ECtHR
- Ombudsman (RPO) / CPT — conditions in detention 2024
- World Prison Brief — Poland
Who I am and why I have the right to speak sharply.
My name is Dmitrii Vasilev. The Polish media used a sensational label against me. The state can turn a person into a headline. I want to turn that experience into a tool for change.
Honestly, up front: I'm a foreigner and my Polish isn't perfect — I learned it in under a year, partly in detention. In Poland I spent 13 months in detention but lived only 3 — and I still like Poland. I was extradited from Warsaw to the US and I'm now on an electronic ankle monitor. As soon as I resolve my case, I'll gladly return to Poland and fight this absurdity.
I do not run from hard questions. I have been through detention and prisons in Poland, in Italy, in Croatia and in the USA — in total four arrests, zero verdicts. I know what the system looks like from the inside. If anyone wants the details — the first consultation is free.
Poland's problem is not only about walls. The problem is cutting a person off from contact, information, family, a lawyer, documents and action. In the USA it is hard too, but even there more contact channels exist — electronic messages, phones, educational programs and the ability to build a plan. In Poland a person very easily becomes invisible.
The very rights that well-known politicians publicly demand today — the presumption of innocence, the right to defense, a fair trial — should work for everyone. Including the ordinary person who has neither a journalist's visa nor a ticket to Washington.
Four arrests in four countries. Not a single verdict. The same principle I demand for myself is owed to every person in Polish detention.
What you'll find on Google
A sensational label is not a definition of a person.
The Polish media used a powerful narrative — including a phrase that became a clickable headline. That is how the information system works: a single statement turns into an identity. I want to use that same spotlight to show what detention really looks like — and to give you source material so you can judge for yourselves.
Why me.
Because I don't talk about justice in theory. I fight injustice wherever I happen to be — for years, across different countries.
Tools for those the system cut off
The "Belarus without Belarus" project — AI for the diaspora: people without a passport, with an expired document, with political status. When the state cuts a person off, technology can give them a voice back.
The most absurd system I've seen
Out of all my experience — across five countries — Polish pre-trial detention was the most unjust and absurd. That's why I fight loudest here.
If Poland truly is a democracy where things can change — let's show how. The right way, openly, with facts.
Public challenge
Minister Ziobro — a proposal.
The difference between us is simple. You fled Poland on your own, when the National Prosecutor's Office was formulating 26 charges (statement of 11 May 2026). I was removed from Poland by force, through extradition — without my belongings, without information, in violation of my rights. You chose to flee. I chose nothing — and yet, despite four arrests, I do not have a single verdict.
The very rights you publicly invoke today — the presumption of innocence, the right to defense, a fair trial — should work for everyone. Including the ordinary person who has neither a journalist's visa nor a ticket to Washington.
Since we are both in America — I propose we talk. Publicly. In front of journalists. Online or in person — your choice.
If you believe you are innocent — so be it. The only question is whether there might not be a few thousand other "innocent" people in Poland who never had the chance to board a plane? Besides you and your party colleague Marcin Romanowski, does Polish detention hold any other innocent people?
Because the ordinary person does not flee to Budapest. They sit and wait. Sometimes for years. Without a verdict.
I'll admit it — in the cell your name was thrown around crudely, in every form. That wasn't right. I don't know you personally — but I've seen you many times on TV. So today I say it differently: with all due respect, Mr. Minister. No insults, no hatred. I invite you to a debate — and please, prove that everything said about you is untrue, and that the prison chant means nothing. As equals, face to face.
It sounds absurd: a defendant — a "criminal" in the media — challenging a former Minister of Justice, now a journalist, to a public debate about Polish courts and detention. But that is exactly the point.
I'll tell you what detention really looks like. What a Polish prison looks like. And what — for all its cruelty — an American prison looks like. We have things to discuss. Interview me, and I'll ask my own questions.
I'm on an electronic ankle monitor and cannot yet leave the US. So I propose something simple: let's do it online, on Zoom. And if you prefer in person — all of Poland will chip in for your ticket. The choice is yours, Mr. Minister.
Mr. Minister, we have more in common than it seems. Both of us — in the eyes of the law — are innocent until a final verdict. We both love Poland and badly want to return. And we both entered America without a passport — you on a refugee document, I through extradition. Just one difference: you chose to flee, I was brought by force. All the more reason to talk.
And since you're now a master of these things — help me out 😉 Teach me how to arrange a journalist visa and the right paperwork. Because I'm ready to fight for justice too — together with you. I have a lot to tell: I was locked up both during your term and under Minister Bodnar. Will you interview me?
And we have one more thing in common: your case has a crypto angle too. That happens to be my profession — I ran a crypto exchange. I'd gladly help untangle that trail, honestly, on the facts. One professional to another.
Question one
Why, during your tenure, could a person awaiting a verdict be effectively cut off from family and defense counsel — while today you demand exactly those standards for yourself?
Question two
Did the Justice Fund — money for victims of crime and former inmates — really serve those it was meant to serve? NIK (Supreme Audit Office) described over PLN 270 million in irregularities.
Question three
Why does a politician from a party have a visa, a plane and an international narrative — while an ordinary inmate in Polish detention has silence?
First consultation free.
What the data and reports already show.
Below there are no private details of the case. There are public sources: World Prison Brief, the Council of Europe's CPT, the Ombudsman (RPO), the ECtHR, NIK (Supreme Audit Office) and statements of the National Prosecutor's Office.
70,786
people in Polish prisons and detention centers as of 31 March 2026, according to World Prison Brief.
195
people deprived of liberty per 100,000 inhabitants. That is a high level in the European context.
7,897
people in pre-trial detention/remand in the latest row of WPB data.
1 call
The Ombudsman (RPO) noted that a minimum of one phone call per week is sometimes treated as the maximum.
A systemic problem, not an incident.
The ECtHR, in the case of Kauczor v. Poland, pointed to a structural problem of excessively long pre-trial detention. The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights has also described the overuse of pre-trial detention as a persistent problem.
Isolation in the first weeks.
The CPT wrote that newly admitted detainees still routinely experienced restrictions on visits and phone calls, often during the first month, sometimes up to two, exceptionally up to three months.
Even legal aid can be a fiction.
The CPT described a situation in which contact restrictions also applied to contact with defense counsel, and a person granted legal aid could not realistically reach their court-appointed lawyer.
| Area | Problem | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-trial detention | A long and often automatically extended preventive measure. | It can act like punishment before the verdict and destroy procedural, family and economic life. |
| Communication | Phone, mail, visits and contact with a lawyer depend on procedure, approvals and the facility's practice. | Without contact with the outside, a person cannot organize a defense, documents, family or a life plan. |
| Activity | The CPT described remand prisoners locked up for as much as 23 hours a day with no meaningful activities. | Idleness does not prepare for return. It deepens the collapse. |
| Justice Fund | NIK (Supreme Audit Office) found nearly PLN 270 million in irregularities in spending funds that were supposed to serve, among others, victims and reintegration. | If money for help and reintegration is spent badly, society pays twice: for the harm and for the system's recidivism. |
Politicians escape into narratives. The ordinary person is left alone in a cell.
This chapter is sharp, but based on public sources. We are talking about charges, suspicions, statements of authorities and NIK (Supreme Audit Office) reports - not about final verdicts.
In the Justice Fund case, public institutions described enormous irregularities. NIK (Supreme Audit Office) wrote about a vast scale of problems in spending public funds. The National Prosecutor's Office reported on actions concerning Zbigniew Ziobro and Marcin Romanowski, on charges, wanted notices, the European Arrest Warrant, checks on their whereabouts abroad and steps regarding possible help in evading responsibility.
Romanowski obtained asylum in Hungary. State statements use the language of flight, hiding and international searches. Ziobro has become a symbol of the political war over justice. And that is precisely why the question is brutal: can a system that speaks so loudly about holding politicians accountable, at the same time treat an ordinary person in detention with dignity?
The point is not whether Mr. Ziobro or Mr. Romanowski are guilty — that will be decided by a court. The point is something simpler: if someone who ran Poland's justice system for years now publicly demands for himself the presumption of innocence, the right to defense and time to prepare his case — then exactly those same standards must have been working for the past eight years for every Polish inmate. Either they worked — in which case I have good reason to be puzzled about my own case. Or they did not work — in which case the question is not only about the Justice Fund, but about the entire practice of Polish detention.
Contrast
If the state can build an international prosecution machine, then it can also organize a minimum of humanity in detention.
- steady contact with family, not once on paper;
- real contact with defense counsel, not a procedural fiction;
- access to documents and translations for foreigners;
- education, work, preparation for return and responsibility;
- controlled technology instead of isolation as the default punishment;
- a public audit of how much suffering and money the current model wastes.
How one can communicate with incarcerated people.
Every country and every facility has its own rules. The Second Chance AI model starts with legal, monitored and safe channels.
Electronic systems
In the USA, some people can use systems like CorrLinks/TRULINCS, prison tablets, mail, phone calls and sometimes video visits. It is still often expensive and monitored, but the channel exists.
Letters, phones, visits
In Poland contact tends to be much harder, especially in pre-trial detention. Phone calls, visits and contact with defense counsel depend on approvals, practice and the rhythm of the facility. For foreigners, the language barrier and the procedures are an additional problem.
A person on the outside as an operator
The simplest model: the incarcerated person writes a letter or a message, and a volunteer on the outside helps turn it into a plan, questions, documents, research, a message to the family or a checklist.
Safety principle: we do not help circumvent the law, we do not pass on criminal instructions, we do not replace lawyers or doctors. We help with education, organization, documents, family, return to life, work and responsibility.
The plan: 100 stories, 10 correspondences, one public proof log.
No abstract movement first. We start with a small, verifiable network of people who can write, listen, organize and document results.
1. 100 stories
Former inmates, families, lawyers, foreigners and people who saw detention from the inside.
2. 10 correspondences
Each case starts with a simple question: what do you need and what can legally be done from the outside?
3. AI as a secretary
AI organizes letters, makes summaries, checklists, research, a study plan, a business plan and questions for the family.
4. Evidence of action
Not promises. A log: problem, response, next step, result, systemic blockers.
5. Kill or scale
If the first cases create real proof, we build the nonprofit lane. If not, we publish what failed and stop pretending.
This is how you fight the system in a normal country.
I show how it looks from the inside in the States — without mythology, without romanticism. So that the Polish reader sees a model, and a Polish former inmate knows there is something to join, if they want to.
1. The person inside writes. Letters, messages, phone calls — in the USA there are systems (CorrLinks, tablets, monitored mail) that let the inmate keep contact with a person on the outside. It costs money, it is monitored, but it works.
2. The person on the outside turns it into a plan. With AI as a secretary: letters turn into summaries, questions, checklists, documents, return plans, education plans, work plans. Every correspondence leaves a trace.
3. A nonprofit / fiscal sponsor as legal infrastructure. In the USA, a 501(c)(3) structure allows you to collect donations, run educational programs, take city and state grants. Without this infrastructure, everything stays on one person.
4. A local anchor — reentry programs, mentors, peer support. A person leaving prison has someone to turn to for work, housing, therapy, courses. No miracles — a concrete ladder.
5. Documentation of systemic blockers. Out of concrete stories come reports, petitions and proposals for change. Every story counts.
This is not a utopia. The American prison system is brutal and expensive. But the infrastructure to fight exists. In Poland — in my assessment — it practically does not. That is something to be built.
Invitation
If you know Polish detention from the inside — I invite you, I do not oblige you.
I am not looking for people to "add to a network." I show what I do in America so that you can see the model and decide for yourself whether you want anything to do with it.
- You can just read and write what rings true — that already helps, because the material gets better.
- You can try one correspondence with a person in the American system — 5 minutes a day, letters/messages, I will teach the technical side.
- You can pass it on to a person for whom it would matter — a sister, brother, parent, friend.
- You can do nothing and that is fine too. Nobody wants to burden you weeks after you get out.
Give yourself as much time as you need. The network will not break if you join in a month or in a year.
For the Minister
P.S. One more proposal, Mr. Ziobro.
Since you are already in the States — perhaps you would like to see from the inside what an American prison looks like? I have some experience — I was held in three. I can recommend, tell you about it, advise you on how not to get lost in the system. As one professional to another.
First consultation free.
What we want to build.
An international second-chance network: correspondence, education, family, documents, mentors, AI and public pressure on systems that isolate a person instead of preparing them for return.
A plan instead of idleness
We turn letters and messages into tasks: study, research, documents, a return plan, a work plan, a business plan.
Coordination instead of chaos
The family gets clear questions, checklists and next steps instead of panic and scattered phone calls.
Pressure for reform
We document blockers: contact, lawyer, phone calls, letters, education, work, return. Then we turn this into reports, petitions and proposals for change.
This is how the Polish media wrote about me — a label, not a verdict.
The Polish media turned me into "the Russian crypto king." It was a powerful narrative, repeated by more than a dozen newsrooms. I show it openly — because I am now turning that same publicity into a tool to talk about Polish detention. Charges are not a verdict; I have none.
How the newspapers wrote
Television
Who I really am
The FBI seized the exchange BTC-e in 2017. I rebuilt it as WEX and restored people's access to 800 million dollars. The price: four arrests, five countries — and zero verdicts.
Two projects, one mission.
This is not just a campaign. These are two real projects I run in parallel — on both sides of the ocean.
🇵🇱 Poland
A just Poland
A public campaign on Polish pre-trial detention: facts, sources, 100 stories, a debate challenge. The goal — expose the absurdity and push for real change.
🇺🇸 USA · non-profit
Second Chance AI
A non-profit (501(c)(3)) being built in Oregon: reentry — helping people coming out of prison. Correspondence with a person in the US federal system, AI as a secretary, work, documents, a plan to rebuild life. Pro bono.
Poland and America. One goal: give a person back their dignity and a second chance — instead of breaking them before any verdict.
Let's build it together
You faced injustice
You're a lawyer
You can improve the project
Let's build a just Poland — together.
I'm not against Poland. I'm against injustice. If you feel the same — join.
Your story matters
Detention, an endless trial, no contact with family, a broken business — tell it. Individual stories become a map of the problem.
Your expertise is needed
An attorney, counsel, trainee, judge or prosecutor willing to speak honestly — help name what must change in law and practice.
Let's build it better
A technologist, journalist, organizer, someone with an idea — show how to make this project stronger and more useful.
Let's build a real, citizen-run "ministry of justice" together. And show the government what justice truly means.
What you can do
Help spread the word. It will take a minute.
- Share this page with friends, family, journalists.
- Follow the channel — a new scandal and absurdity of Polish detention every day.
- Send your story — were you in detention, do you have an inmate in your family, are you a lawyer? Write →
- Propose a debate — tag journalists and politicians: let Zbigniew Ziobro answer publicly.
I'll be your voice
I'm not afraid to speak. I have nothing to lose.
Too many people are locked up. Thousands of broken lives, families and businesses. The politicians who built this system escape punishment — while we, ordinary people, suffer. I've had enough.
Do you have papers, evidence of injustice — especially in "sixty" (Art. 60) cases? Write to us. Anonymously. You don't have to give your name. I'll say it out loud for you. Help me change the system and make Poland better and fairer.
100 stories: we are launching a public campaign.
It is not enough to shout that the system is bad. You have to gather evidence, people and concrete cases. The goal of the first stage is 100 stories from former inmates, families, lawyers, foreigners and people who saw Polish detention from the inside.
Every story can be private, anonymous or public - only with consent. We are not looking for sensation. We are looking for a map of problems: contact, phone calls, visits, defense counsel, interpreter, documents, health, work, education, family, money and return to life.
100 stories is not gossip. It is material for a report, a petition, a debate, a bill and an international help network.
Starter form
What to send
- who you are: former inmate, family member, lawyer, volunteer, journalist;
- what problem you saw: contact, lawyer, detention, letters, phone calls, documents, health;
- whether the story can be public, anonymous or only private;
- which one rule or practice needs to be changed first;
- whether you want to help with correspondence, translation, research, AI or mentoring.
The form is in preparation. For now, a story can be sent by email to dima@vda.vc — with the subject "100 stories." You decide whether the story can be public, anonymous or only private. Your data is protected. Legal basis: Article 6(1)(a) GDPR — consent.
Sources and caution.
This page is a public draft of the program and an operational manifesto. It is not legal advice. The names of politicians appear only in the context of public statements by institutions and reports. Charges are not verdicts.
Sources on prisons and human rights
Sources on the Justice Fund and political cases
- NIK (Supreme Audit Office): the Justice Fund under scrutiny again
- National Prosecutor's Office: actions concerning Zbigniew Ziobro and Marcin Romanowski
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs: position on asylum for Marcin Romanowski
- National Prosecutor's Office: European Arrest Warrant against Marcin Romanowski
- CBŚP: material on the detention of Dmitrii V. and the US extradition context
Last update of the draft: 5 June 2026. This page is not legal advice. Before publication in a political or media campaign, a Polish fact-check and legal filter are required.