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"It was in the night on the cold concrete floor in the garage; the water was icy. All of us were shivering and they did not let us get dry"

Marked with a red mark hit especially hard

Ilya Kulak works by an assignment as an electrician in Minsk. He often visits his native city Voronovo. Over there, he usually gets together with his friends and they travel to a neighbouring town of Lida. This was the case on August 11. It was a boring day, internet was not functioning, and the guys did not know what was going on in the country. Ilya did not join his friends at the square; he decided to wait for them at the public garden. This turned out to be the fate’s irony: he was arrested, beaten by the police and went to court, while his friends were to come back home that night.

Ilya Kulak,associate electrician
Age: 21 years old
City: Voronovo
When: 11.08.2020

Illegally detained and beaten

Held in custody: Lida District Department of Interior Affairs
Medical diagnosis: Closed finger and elbow bone fracture, neuropathy, bruises and racomas PDF
Aftermath: Disfunction of the left hand, psychological trauma, penalty

Author: Project team August2020

Photo: Project team August2020

"They did not let us get dry"


Ilya Kulak came from Minsk to his native town of Voronovo in Grodno region specially to vote.  He has recently moved to Minsk, just on August 19, to work as an electrician by an assignment.  Over the next couple days after the elections, he went through the routine medical examination in the local clinics.  On August 11, he decided to travel to Lida with his friends. The town is 20 km away from Voronovo.  The guys often go to the neighbouring town to relax and meet friends. That night was not an exception.


– Back then we hadn't had any internet for three days and I did not know what was going on.  As soon as we left with the guys, we realized that the militia blocked the centre of our little town.  It was a surprise, because our militiamen do not get together in groups bigger than five. By the time we arrived to Lida, around nine o'clock, I was in complete shock. Everybody was beeping; traffic jams were everywhere. We stopped on the road by the shopping centre and saw a white bus approaching a guy on the opposite side of the road; it stopped and then people from the bus just grabbed the guy and pushed him inside the vehicle.  I figured something was wrong.


The friends of Ilya were more curious and decided to check the downtown to see what was going on there. Meanwhile, Ilya decided to wait for them at the garden by the shop. He was talking to his friend over the phone when he heard people shouting and running in his direction.


– I am not that stupid to sit and wait.  I ran in the opposite direction somewhere in the yards. I wanted to call my friends who came with me, when two patrol militiamen approached me.  They stopped me and started asking where from and to I headed.  Once they found out I was not local, they grabbed me by the hands and brought down on the roadside. One seemed to be nice and understanding.  While the second immediately pushed me on the ground and started kicking me and asking what I was doing there and how much I was paid.


At first, the patrol guys called for OMON, the anti–riot squad, with their paddy wagon. Meanwhile, people crowded around them and tried to defend Ilya.  Thus, the patrol took him by the hands and walked him to the Lida district militia department.  He didn’t object.  The walk took around seven minutes.  Behind the gates of the district militia there was a huge territory stuffed with OMON and military. There were hundreds of them fully armored.  OMON asked the patrol whether Ilya was aggressive.  They responded, “He does not look like one.”  Anyway, they slapped Ilya upside his head.  They pushed him through the corridor of the cops to a garage, which they later referred as washer.  While walking to the garage each law–enforcer hit him with his baton.
 
One seemed to be nice and understanding.  While the second immediately pushed me on the ground and started kicking me and asking what I was doing there and how much I was paid.
 
– Once we reached the garage, they threw me over other people.  I just saw that the others were on the floor with their face down.  Some had their hands tied. I was told not to move, and then three militiamen came over and started beating me. They hit me around 60–70 times. This was a peak.  It turned out they beat all newly arrived.  Mostly over the soft parts, legs and buttocks.
Ilya’s life instinct was on and he tried to cover himself with his hand to take some pain away.  Most of the hits came over his left hand.  In the beginning it just hurt; by the end it was unbearable. When the policemen finished, they told him to put his hands behind his head and crawl to the wall. Then they pulled out water hose and poured water all over him.


– At first, they watered all new ones, and then every 15–20 minutes, they did it to everybody else. Maybe they tried to keep us awake, maybe they simply enjoyed it.  It was night, the concrete floor was cold, and the water was icy. All of us were shivering and they did not let us get dry.
The OMON also sprayed with paint some crosses, circles and dots over Ilya's pants and shirt. As he sorted out later, this was their way to mark the most aggressive.  Everybody was marked when leaving the garage.
 

 

At the garage


At the garage, the detainees had to lay down until the morning. Ilya believes he was lucky because he had to stay there only for three hours.  Over there, the militia regularly poured water on them and beat with the batons once every half hour. They also asked provocative questions so that the arrestees could not answer.


– For instance, I will remember all my life what stands for "MENT" (short slang for militiaman in Russia, i.e. cop); that means "my only reliable friend". If you do not answer the question, they beat you more, if you answer it the way they like, then you get just a couple of hits. – Ilya recalls how they tortured him at the Lida militia department – I could hardly feel anything, except for shivering from the cold.  I was in shock.  After beating they went on with psychological pressure.  And it lasted forever. They switched one another all the time.


Ilya could not see anything, but he tried to differ voices.  A guy in his twenties asked him to put his hands on the top of the radiator because he could not feel them. The cop immediately beat off his hands saying "So, do they stop hurting you now? "  When an older guy asked to switch his legs position, because he recently went through a surgery, the cop beat his legs.


– At some moment, I also could not feel my arms.  I whispered to a guy to the left to raise up a little so that I could reposition.  He responded "Take it easy, I am here since 5 o'clock"
Ilya was afraid that they would get into his phone.  Hundreds of mobile phones were placed in one big box.  The law enforcers took the phones and "spoke" to the owners.  They got attracted by covers, symbols and screensavers.  If the owner did not give the password, they beat him.
 
I will remember all my life what stands behind the "MENT" (short slang for militiaman in Russia, a cop), and that means "my only reliable friend". If you do not answer the question, they beat you more, if you answer, then you get just a couple of hits
 
– In the phone of one guy, they found out he wrote in the telegram channel “Lida for life”.  At first, they severely beat him and then peed all over him.  I figured it by the sound, – Ilya shares the harshest moment of his detention, – they also told us that if they hear on their radio that any cop in Minsk was wounded or dead, they would have cut off our fingers and ears. Frankly speaking, one cop was nice.  I recognized him by his voice, he always defended us and asked his colleagues to calm down. 
 

 

In the jail


By the morning, the chief came and told to take away the first five nodding at Ilya.  He got scared.  He did not know what was going to happen.  They allowed him to move on his hunker with his head down. At that moment, Ilya realized how much his body hurt.
Later, Ilya found himself in a room facing the four militiamen and one anti–riot policeman.  They asked him for all the details of where he came from, where and how long he worked, then they asked to take off his shoelaces and belt and sign a protocol.  Ilya did not have time to read what the paper was saying.  They warned him if they would catch him once again at a mass event, he would not get away with just an administrative punishment.


– On the way to the detention facility I even talked to a militiaman.  He told they were not going to keep me long because there was not enough space.  The trial was going to be on the next day.  In the jail, there was another guy.  He was there almost all his life, forty years out of sixty.  That time he beat his wife.  I was just standing there watching the jail and did not know what to do.  I did not want to sleep; I was shivering and could not lay down because my body hurt.  The toilet was just a hole in the floor and nothing else.  I was standing there thinking "Where am I".


A bit later, Ilya's fellows from the first five came up.  One of them told that they pulled him from his car at the road lights and beat him at the paddy wagon.  Over there, they piled the people and then walked on top of them kicking with their squads against their heads. The old guy was detained at the station, he came to Lida to buy medicine.
Ilya climbed on the top bunk with the help of one arm.  His left arm hurt and was swollen.  The cage on the window did not save from cold.  He covered himself with a stinky blanket and laid on his side.  He got to sleep for a couple of hours, and then woke up at six in the morning.


– They told us to roll up the blankets and stay awake. We were sitting behind the bars waiting for a miracle. They gave us some soup, which was more like water with potato and cucumbers with no taste. Then they brought pearl barley porridge. I did not want to eat but forced myself as I didn’t know how long I would have to spend there.


By the night, all five fellows in Ilya's cage were taken out from the detention facility.  Two militiamen escorted them in the front and behind.  Nobody was going to escape; the guys were scared.  Ilya noticed the town was full of the armoured OMON.


– We walked beaten and soaking wet. They brought us to the court building on the second floor next to the detention facility.  I went to the judge alone to tell what had happened.  She noted that all of us were saying the same things. Then I figured if I start objecting, I would get 15 days of the arrest.  I ended up paying the penalty of ten statutory minimum wages (SMW).
 
After the trial, the arrestees were taken to the assembly hall.  It was quite over there.  The guys could even talk to one another. Everybody got different sentence, some – three SMWs, others – 30, and the third got 24 hours of arrest.
Ilya stayed in the assembly hall until 9 pm. It was better then in the garage or in the jail.  Then, the militiamen took them back to the district department to see the prosecutor. Over there, he had to repeat his story.  It did not make much sense for Ilya anymore.


– You know, among others the prosecutor seemed to be the most adequate.  Young and understanding he talked very politely and was responsive, he even treated me with cookie.  After the prosecutor they told me to pick up my personal stuff. They gave me back five roubles but kept the phone.  They pointed I could take it back once I pay the penalty. That was it, I was free.
 

 

Solidarity


Ilya's mother was waiting for him next to the police department.  Her son's friends who went with him to Lida called her in the morning to inform her they didn't know where he was. His mother called the police trying to find her son.  It was still morning when she came to Lida from Voronovo.


– The whole street was full of relatives of the detainees. Everybody was waiting for their loved ones.  Anti–riot police and militia were already gone.  Before coming out, I changed my shirt upside down to ensure the police art was not seen, not to bother my mom.
Ilya came home wearing wet clothing.  His shirt was painted all over, his pants were torn, and his knee was bleeding. Over the next couple of days, he could not do anything or think of anything.  On the third day, he went to a local clinic to register the injures.


– You see, I have had an experience when they arrest for things I hadn’t done.  It is insulting.  This time it’s all the same.  Judges, militia, anti–riot police, everybody accuses me of what never happened. I understand there was not a single case against OMON opened.  I really want to be recognized as a victim in this situation, Ilya explains his position.


The duty surgeon registered all of his injures and described every single wound in detail.  In such cases the doctor must call the militia.  The militiamen arrived and asked the young men questions with his face surprised.  Ilya told him all the details. Then, he read the application which the militiaman prepared and discovered there were only 30 percent of his story. He figured, he would not reach any results through that and refused to sign the application.


Later, Ilya's friend from Minsk recommended him various volunteer initiatives.  Young men addressed the human rights center "Vesna" where they helped him to file an appeal to the court.  The initiative BY_HELP supported Ilya with paying his penalty and promised to send later a compensation for the moral damage.


Also, volunteers from the IMENA platform offered Ilya their help.  His left arm continued hurting him.  A week had passed, and he still could not move his fingers.  The IMENA arranged an appointment with the orthopedist.  They x–rayed him and the doctor diagnosed closed fracture of the fingers and elbow bone, and neuropathy.  For further treatment, the doctor recommended to address to the surgeon and neurologist.


At this point, Ilya gave up his visits to the doctors.  He doesn't have registration in Minsk, while in the clinic they require rent agreement.  He rents his apartment without an agreement because it's cheaper.  He cannot afford paid consultations as well as going back to Voronovo is not an option.


– I work under assignment.  I cannot miss my work or take a sick leave.  They would think I am irresponsible and would fire me.  My arm still hurts and does not function properly, I cannot lift heavy things.  It’s great that volunteers at least took care of the penalty.  They also seek for appropriate options for rehabilitation and promised to get in touch with me once they figure out something.

P.S. Ilya filed an appeal to the court and registered his injures in the clinics.
 

If you have suffered during peaceful demonstrations and are ready to tell your story, write to us at avgust2020belarus@gmail.com with the note “History”. We will contact you. thanks

Ilya Kulak,associate electrician
Age: 21 years old
City: Voronovo
When: 11.08.2020

Illegally detained and beaten

Held in custody: Lida District Department of Interior Affairs
Medical diagnosis: Closed finger and elbow bone fracture, neuropathy, bruises and racomas PDF
Aftermath: Disfunction of the left hand, psychological trauma, penalty