Head of Polish Consulate Visits ex-Ambassador in the Intensive Care Unit

Mariusz Maszkievich, former Ambassador of Poland to Belarus, was detained and sentenced to 15 days of jail for participation in the protests on Kastrychnitskaya Square. On March 29 he was brought to intensive care unit of Minsk hospital # 1. Mr. Maszkievich had a severe pain in his chest. Ambulance doctors suspected a heart attack and took him to hospital.

On March 30 Krzysztof Swiderek, head of the consular department of the Polish Embassy, was allowed to visit the former Ambassador. He told RFE/RL: “Yesterday they did not let me in. I came there the moment I heard Mr. Maszkievicz was taken from the detention center to hospital. When we learned he was in the intensive care unit, we became really worried: we didn’t know what happened… He had pains in the hear area. Is it really true that he is in the intensive care unit only because the cardiology department is full?!”
The doctors refused to give any information referring to Dzmitry Pinevich, head of Minsk city health care committee. Pinevich claims: “There are no special threats. He has a chronic ischemic disease. There are no indications of a heart attack. Some stress factors might have had effect on his health. In my opinion, he should stay in hospital for a couple days so that the doctors could observe the state of his health”.
Mr. Maszkievicz complained he had been beaten by riot police on the way from the Square to Akrestsina jail. Then the jail administration did not allow doctors and Polish diplomats to see him for a long time. The Polish Embassy delivered a note to the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs asking for medical expert examination of Mariusz Maszkievicz.
Dzmitry Pinevich claims the expert examination has been carried out: “We haven’t found any bruises on his skin or anything else – we haven’t seen anything”.