"I had black eyes, and a bruise on my forehead – in the form of a soldier boot sole"
Marked with a red mark hit especially hard
Marked with a red mark hit especially hard
On the 10th of August, in the evening, Andrei Leshov was riding home on his bike through the center of Minsk. Internet was blocked, so he wanted to have a look on what was going on in the city. He didn’t intend to participate in the protests: Andrei is the father of two kids. He realized what he was risking. But he never imagined to be, as a number of other pedestrians, stuck into a police van, beaten and thrown into prison.
Badly beaten after arrest, 4 days spent in prison
– I was lucky – I was badly beaten just in the van, after arrest. And only slightly afterwards, when relocated into other vans. But no sadism, unlike Okrestino.
Andrei, like a few other arrestants, considers beating executed by militia practically a norm. Though a terrible norm. He has read some terrifying stories of other Belarus citizens and knows that it could be much worse.
– My own story started on August, 10th. Internet was cut out by then. But at my workplace at Belavia there were technical means to connect to the web. It was my day–off but in order to get a picture of what was happening in the country, after lunch I set off on my bike to the office.
Andrei decided to have a ride on a bike to the center of the city along the Nemiga–river. He reached as far as Yubilejnaya Hotel and stopped there to have a chat with his collegue who happened to be passing by. She was going home in the direction of prospect Pobeditelei and kept saying that she was scared.
– I wondered then: you are just going home from work, doing nothing wrong, why should you be scared at all? So, we were standing there talking, and on the opposite side of the street all over sudden militia men in black started arresting people, common passers–by. Arms on back – and into the blue vans. Just to give you a picture: it was a quarter to seven in the evening, still light. No crowds, no banners.
Andrei started recording arrests on his smart phone. In a couple of minutes, a minibus suddenly stopped right near him.
– The door opened – two guys were running towards me. – Have you got your passport? – Yes, I have. – Let’s go! – They forced me into the bus together with my bike. Then they said: on your knees! And the beating started. In the full force, with their sticks. They tried to turn the wheel so that it hit me on the face.
I totally understand that I won’t be heard in a totalitarian society. All of us are hostages of the system.
Later the militia men snatched Andrei’s phone and watched the video he had made before his arrest. In the phone’s memory there were videos of August, 9th, too. Andrei had been returning from work then and had recorded war vehicles in the city center.
– Aha, you were attacking us, too!
– I wasn’t, I was hanging around the church..!
– It was the only thing I told them. After that I preferred to keep silence. I realized that that one better not speak at all. Some did moan, complain, ask: What for..? – and were getting even more beating. We were put into a police van later. I remember a guy there, quite young – a kid actually, about 17 or 18. I realized: if you got here, you have to endure. And the youth – they were beating him, and he was sobbing and shivering… My son is 12. I was imagining him being massacred like that… Horrible.
Andrei was brought to the police station of Pervomaisky district, Belinsky st., 10. In the parking lot he was forced out of the bus together with his fellow arrestants and put on his knees. They had to spend about 3 hours in such a position. Not beaten; but standing like that for a long time was hard. It was about 2 a.m. when the militia guys started calling them one by one to complete protocols.
– In mine, it was written that I had taken part in an "unsanctioned" aсtion, that I had been shouting out some slogans. Something common, like in everybody else’s protocol. Article of Administrative law 23.34. I was given 5 days imprisonment.
The "witness" was one of militia men. He turned up and signed the protocol not even having looked at me. It was like a factory conveyor – everything was fixed. Though I did have a real witness – my collegue.
By the way, I was named after my great grandfather – he had been repressed. At that time all the sentences were also copied. My great grandfather had been arrested on the 11th of August in a local administration building – and the family had never seen him again.
I managed to survive through this thanks to my co–citizens.
When all the protocols were made, all the people were taken to a temporary detention station. In a room about 1,5 m2 there were 7 arrestants. They were kept in there till 10 a.m. of August, 11th. Then we were forced into a police van and transported to Zhodino.
– Transportation – that was a king of quest, too. It was a hot day, the van was made of metal, too many people stuffed into. No air to breathe. I was standing, and several guys were sitting in a passway with their arms behind the back. The vehicle was jumbling, they had nothing to grab at – so they got even more injuries. I was looking at them and thinking that I was sort of "lucky".
Andrei isn’t losing optimism. He believes this is the only way to survive.
– I don’t blame Zhodinsk prison staff. I understand that it is "occupational hazard". What can you ask of people who had chosen on their own will, among all the range of professions, this very job. They even gave me an anti–fever pill when I complained about a terrible headache. Because I did look scary – I had black eyes, and a bruise on my forehead – in the form of a soldier boot sole.
Andrei didn’t take the pill at once; he decided to keep till the critical moment. But finally, he gave it to a guy who seemed to be really suffering. He was lying down and moaning. Later it turned up that he had a cyst in the gum. Andrei says that he managed to survive through this thanks to his co–citizens. Belarus people appeared to be very sympathetic and were helping each other.
– When we found ourselves in the cell, others gave us some bread. And there was water there, tap water. That was far out! I simply love water after that. Tea or coffee – what a trivia. Water is the best thing!
In the cell, there in Zhodino, not everyone had been beaten. Most of all – me and the guy whom I gave the pill. All the others were arrested more or less normally.
In the whole all the people really supported each other, gave each other some hope. There was Yvgeny Afnagel, European Belarus civil campaign coordinator. And Anatoly Kudlassevich, poet and singer, he is about 60 years old, by the way. And a cameraman from Belsat TV. Different people but all of them very hearty.
In the end Andrei was let out not after 5, but 4 days. His managers backed him up, though he works in a state company, and promised to grant him financial aid for rehabilitation.
He turned for help to the emergency hospital. Besides, he could do an ultrasound scan in Tomography Medical center for free.
– I wasn’t going to get into the thick of it. I’ve got a family, and children. I support the ideas of protestants – and I am law–abiding. I totally understand that I won’t be heard in a totalitarian society. All of us are hostages of the system.
P.S. Andrei filed a petition in the Investigation committee to open a case on account of beating and theft of the bicycle. Which wasn’t given back.
Badly beaten after arrest, 4 days spent in prison