"Being sick in prison is equivalent to death." Volha Rytus on medical care in detention
As part of the Week of Solidarity with Political Prisoners in Belarus, Viasna has prepared a number of videos where former political prisoners share their stories about substandard and untimely medical care in places of detention. Former political prisoner Volha Rytus spoke about the problems her cellmates faced in pre-trial detention center-1.
"Being sick in prison is equivalent to death. Fortunately, our bodies cope much faster there than in freedom. The worst thing about the temporary detention facility at Akrescina is when you get there, when you have some medicines that you need (I personally took pills for my heart) and you realize that they were taken from you. I arrived to Valadarka without them.
There was a girl with me, and she had problems with her thyroid. She had to get a hormone pill every day. She was brought in the evening. She was very worried, but there were no pills. The pills were not brought the next day either.
There was also another story, also with our political girl. The food there is quite peculiar, so she had a poisoning. She was terribly dehydrated, and her diarrhea wouldn't stop. She turned green, and all day we were asking for the pills to stop it. The water there is also very terrible. Only tap water. They gave her the pills only in the evening."
Stories of former political prisoners:
"I started to lose consciousness," Vadzim Khizhniakou on the consequences of mold allergy in a prison cell
"You can't physically walk in this state." Volha Loika spoke about medical care in a pre-trial detention center
"I had an airsoft pellet in my leg." Kanstantsin Karnei on medical care at Akrescina
