Ex political prisoner: “There were people whose legs were completely blue”

Former political prisoner Aliaksandr Andrushkevich had to leave Belarus over political persecution. He told Viasna how he was beaten by GUBOPiK officers and about the conditions at the infamous Valadarka jail.

The arrest

Like in many other similar cases, the police identified Andrushkevich from the photos of the protests and brought a criminal case for “active participation in actions that grossly violate the public order” (Part 1 of Art. 342 of the CC). He was detained on April 14, 2022.

The police first tried to get to his apartment, and then waited near the entrance to the residential building. When Andrushkevich went out to smoke and realized that they had come after him, he tried to run away.

“I threw my phone on the stairs to smash it and keep the police out of its content. An officer knocked me down and started kicking me in the head. He handcuffed me and dragged me up the stairs by them, just like a bag. After that, my thumb went numb for several months."

Once in the apartment, the officers immediately asked where the white-red-white flag was. 

“I answered where it is—and they took the flag away. Before that, the officer who was beating me smashed a TV set and, as it turned out later, other equipment. I was facing the wall, so I couldn't see what he was smashing with, but most likely with a baton. [...]

Then he showed me a photo by Belsat from the protests and started asking where are the clothes I was wearing. When they didn't find something, he 'pressed' my head into the wall.”

There were no witnesses, and no search report was drawn up.

Stolen money and beatings at GUBOPiK

Andrushkevich claims that the arresting officer had ripped out the main page of his passport. There were 180 dollars and 5 rubles in the document.

“When they brought me to the Zavodski district police department, it turned out that there were only 30 dollars, 15 rubles and some coins. I don't know where another 10 rubles came from. Maybe it was compensation for 150 dollars that was stolen along with my passport and military service card.”

The police also seized about 30 letters from political prisoners, which were later included in the case materials. Among them was a mail from Marfa Rabkova. 

“When we went to the GUBOPiK (Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption—translator's note), they laughed that Rabkova's teeth are crumbling. The conditions in pre-trial detention facilities are so that already in three months your teeth are very brittle. After four and a half months behind bars, my teeth started to crumble. Also, very bad lighting there causes eyesight deterioration for many people.”

When they arrived at the GUBOPiK, officers put Andrushkevich face down on the floor and continued beating him. 

“Right away I was beaten on my butt with something. I don't know what it was, but it must have been a metal rod that one can find inside the baton.”

After being beaten, the man was taken away to record a “repentant” video.  At first, he refused, but they started beating him again.

“I admitted that I went to the protests, stepped on the roadway, and registered in the Pieramoha chatbot. [...] At home I had a white and red hat and scarf. They put that on me before the record. They also put tomato postage stamps on my forehead. Later someone told them to take them off.” 

Administrative detention

Andrushkevich was convicted of “disseminating extremist materials” under Article 19.11 of the Code of Administrative Offences for sharing an article about health from the Nasha Niva website. He was taken to the Center for Isolation of Offenders. The eight-bed cell held up to 43 people at a time. Andrushkevich says he had seen severely beaten people.

"There were people whose legs were completely blue. That's the most common. But I was beaten on the head, so there were bruises under my eyes as well. I have very poor eyesight, but when I was admitted to the Isolation Center one of the officers refused to give me glasses, saying 15 days [in jail] will improve it.

Pre-trial detention at Valadarka

After the administrative detention, Andrushkevich was charged under Part 1 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code and was transferred to pre-trial detention center known as Valadarka as part of criminal proceedings. There, he and another dozen of people have been placed in a single punishment cell.

Some officers behaved aggressively, insulted, and hit inmates, according to Andrushkevich. They made him walk in a “swallow” pose, with his head tilted to his knees.

“In summer, it's extremely hard to be at Valadarka. Because it's very hot and stuffy one is wet all the time. There is not enough air, and people smoke non-stop in the cell. Everyone there suffers from daily headaches. I got high blood pressure after that, though I never had it before.

Since the second half of summer, the cells at Valadarka were overcrowded. Some people slept on the floor.”

On August 29, 2022, after four months in pre-trial detention, Aliaksandr Andrushkevich was sentenced to three years of restricted freedom under home confinement. He had left Belarus for safety reasons.