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"Others were saved by communication. And I heard only parts of words"

Marked with a red mark hit especially hard

Pavel Erchak sleeps during the day after his night shift. In the evening he goes to the nearest shopping mall,"Riga", for cigarettes and food. The night from August 10th to 11th was no exception. Pavel was near the store when he was grabbed by unknown persons in helmets, pushed into a prison truck, beaten, and then taken to the Zhodino detention center. During the beatings in the prison truck, Pasha lost his hearing aid. For three days he hardly heard the conversations of his co-prisoners and hardly understood the commands of the guards.

Pavel Erchak,works as a picker in the warehouse
Age: 30 years old
City: Minsk
When: 10.08.2020

Illegally arrested and beaten at the prison truck

Held in custody: Detention facility at Zhodino, 3 days
Medical diagnosis: Multiple bruising of the head, face, body, buttocks and lower extremities PDF
Aftermath: The hearing aid required for a full life was lost

Author: Veronica Ulasevich, IMENA

Photo: Alexander Vasukovich for IMENA

The prison truck instead of the shopping mall
 

We met Pavel at IMENA office: he came before work to sign the required documents and to talk to journalists. He was shy, answered questions in a short and distant manner. When it came to the new hearing aid, he relaxed and told his story.


“It was the night of August 10th to 11th. I slept all day after the night shift, spent time at the computer in the evening, and went out to the store only at three in the morning. The Riga department store is in seven-minutes walk from my house, and I usually go there to buy cigarettes and food. I didn't catch the Internet then, and I don't watch TV at all. I didn’t know that the Riga store became the epicenter of events that night: about five thousand protesters gathered there, they erected barricades three times, the security forces demolished them and brutally suppressed the protests. It all ended at about half past two in the night - half an hour before I got there.”
 

Pavel did not plan to stay out for a long time: he was dressed lightly, shod in slippers. He had only the cell phone and fifty rubles with him. He walked, lost in thoughts. He was not embarrassed that there was not a soul around - you rarely meet anyone at that time of the night. He didn’t notice that the shop windows were not lit up as usual. And he didn’t notice at all that he was walking on "burnt" black paving.

“The riot policeman appeared out of nowhere. He was wearing a helmet and was fully equipped. I noticed him five meters away from me and kept walking: I had not done anything wrong. Then a second policeman ran up and started twisting my hand”


 Pavel touches his shoulder which is still aching. The young man tried to explain that he lives nearby and that he was just going to the store. But nobody listened to him. They told him to shut up and lower his head. Then Pavel saw the black paving under his feet, which had recently been extinguished. At first he was surprised, then scared. He realized that he was in trouble.

There were already two people in the prison truck. They were tied up. There was blood on the floor. To their left there was another riot policeman.

“As soon as I turned my head in the riot policeman’s direction, his fist flew into my face with the words: ‘On the floor, lie down.’ All this with shouting and rude words. Of course, I did not resist because they were in riot gear. Then they started beating me. I realized that they would continue for a long time, so I rolled over onto my back - this way it hurts less. They beat everyone in a row: their hands and  feet with clubs . Then one of them sat on me and began to punch me in the face. Most blows flew to my eyebrows. I remember those ‘slightly soft gloves’  and the sound ‘bam, bam, bam.’”


Previously, Pavel was trained in wrestling. He remembered the old skills: he gathered himself correctly and squeezed one riot policeman with his legs and feet so that he could no longer hit him again. After that, they stopped beating Pavel, twisted his arms and tied him with plastic ties.

The truck was on its way to the Sovetskoe police office. Other prisoners tried to talk to Pavel, but he did not have the strength to talk, and he could not understand them - the voices came as from afar, the words merged into a continuous hum. Only later Pavel understood the reason - when he was beaten, he had lost his hearing aid.
 

Pavel has hearing loss. At school, he still heard normally, but at the age of 23 his hearing deteriorated really much. In three years, it had dropped by sixty percent. He stopped hearing even quiet speech, it became difficult for him to maintain a conversation in company. The doctor said that the operation will not help, there is the only way out - a hearing aid. Pasha resisted for a long time, he was afraid that society would not accept him. At the age of 26 - 4 years ago – he decided to buy it. He saved money for six months.


The hearing aid gave Pavel full life opportunities. He was able to communicate freely with friends, and began to feel more comfortable at work. He worked as a security guard in a store, then got a job as a picker at a warehouse.


“When I realized that I had lost the device, I got scared. What will happen? Loss of hearing aid meant that I could lose my job.”

At the Detention Facility. "Others were saved by communication. And I heard only parts of words"

When leaving the prison truck, Pasha tried to explain to the riot police that he was left without a hearing aid and could hardly understand words. They sarcastically yelled in his ear: "And we will speak louder". The young man realized that he was better to keep silent here too, watching what other guys were doing, and repeating after them.


At the police department, Pasha and 50 other prisoners were placed along the walls, the column stretched out over the entire courtyard. So they stood in silence from four in the morning until eleven in the afternoon. Anyone who said a word was beaten with clubs over his legs. In the afternoon they were allowed to sit down, and policemen started to bring water. They gave Pavel some paper to sign. Pavel just put a cross on it, because he did not know what he was signing.

A little later, the column of prisoners was placed in different prison trucks and were driven somewhere else. They drove for about ten minutes and began to suffocate as they were stuffed into compartments,  eight people in a well for three. They banged on the door for a long time until the air conditioner was turned on. It became easier to breathe. No one spoke in the prison truck - everyone was scared, they did not understand where they were being taken.


“We arrived after an hour. It turned out that we were taken to the pre-trial detention center in Zhodino. There again, the  ‘swallow position’: hands behind the head, and the face down. Then they made me run about two hundred meters through some kind of labyrinth. Probably, they wanted to confuse us completely. I didn't hear the commands, but I understood everything. I ran barefoot - I lost my slippers long ago- with my feet covered in blood. The eyebrow after being hit in the prison truck puffed out so much that it could hardly fit into my palm. The local doctor gave me two aspirin pills and sent me to the cell.”

The cell was designed for eight people. At first, there were eight prisoners in it. Pavel immediately threw himself on the bed and fell asleep. He woke up in the morning when there were already twenty-four of them. They had to sleep in twos, the rest stood and waited for their turn. During the first day, the prisoners were never fed. The next day they were given five tablespoons of oatmeal each. Pasha admits that at first he did not want to eat due to severe stress. Then they were fed mainly with cereals. Once they brought canned food, and it seemed like a fairy tale. Once the food was brought in dirty dishes. Some ate, others disdained. Nobody knew how long this would last. There were no newspapers, no books, no paper in the cell.


“Others were saved by communication. But I could not communicate - I heard only parts of words. Sometimes I did push-ups with the guys - that's how we took our mind off all that. But mostly he just laid down in silence. He had a bad headache, and really wanted to sleep."

Roll call. "If I had not heard my name, I would have stayed in jail"

On the morning of the third day, a warder entered the cell and shouted the name of Pavel and three other guys. They were released.


“I was as happy as a child that I heard my name. The guards themselves did not know who was still in prison and who had already been released. If I had not heard my last name then, I would have remained in the pre-trial detention center. And who knows when I would have come out. It would be very disappointing.”


Then Pavel got his things, money, and phone back. And to say goodbye, they beat him in the legs for raising his head.


“They just let us go. We did not sign any documents. It turns out that we were not officially there.”


After leaving the pre-trial detention center, Pavel was surprised by the number of people who were waiting for the prisoners on the street - more than a thousand. He was impressed by their willingness to help. They immediately found slippers for Pavel, gave him tea, covered him with a blanket, and gave the power bank to recharge the phone. The ambulance officer offered to take Pavel to Minsk. On the way, the ambulance driver talked to colleagues from the hospital, and immediately drove Pavel there. They examined Pavel and made X-ray photographs. There were no fractures, only scratches and hematomas all over the body. But there was one big unresolved problem - Pavel heard almost nothing.

The hearing aid that was left in the prison wagon costs about 4,000 rubles. Pavel had no money for it.

I was glad to be back home. But I felt unstable, and deep inside I was trying to get ready for dismissal. I didn't know what to do.


At work they waited for Pavel, and they said: “Get well, recover, and come back to work”. On the tenth day after his release, a volunteer from NAMES called Pavel and offered help in the framework of the project "Center for Medical Aid for Victims of Peaceful Demonstrations." Pavel immediately described his problem.


The volunteer promptly arranged a consultation with an audiologist - a specialist who is involved in the rehabilitation and adaptation of people with hearing impairments. A couple of days later, Pavel got a new hearing aid.

Pavel feels well now. Sometimes, when he lifts weights, he feels cramps in the shoulder which come up after the beatings.


“A couple of times at night I had dreams about riot police. It's scary that they are wearing masks and doing what they want. But I am glad that it all ended without serious dangers. If it weren't for the NAMES, I would not be able to buy the hearing device in at least another year. How I would have lived during this time, I do not know.”

P.S. Pavel did not write a statement.

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

Pavel Erchak,works as a picker in the warehouse
Age: 30 years old
City: Minsk
When: 10.08.2020

Illegally arrested and beaten at the prison truck

Held in custody: Detention facility at Zhodino, 3 days
Medical diagnosis: Multiple bruising of the head, face, body, buttocks and lower extremities PDF
Aftermath: The hearing aid required for a full life was lost