Anti-Lukashenko protesters continue to die in Belarus

Illegitimate authorities continue destroying people who disagree with the illegal actions of the regime. On the day of the constitutional referendum on February 27, more than 800 people were detained, who went through humiliation in courts, and temporary detention facilities and some even became political prisoners. The forces do not shy away from any actions, even inciting him to suicide.

The tragedy happened in Pinsk in the first days of April. The dead man’s name was Dzmitry. He got detained on February 27, 2022 at a picket against the war. For participation in an unsanctioned mass event, he got sentenced to 15 days, which he spent in Pinsk temporary detention facility. After his release from the TDF, Dzmitry left without a job – he was fired without money. His relatives refused to support him. The deceased was left with three children, including a handicapped son.

We have heard about torture in the Pinsk temporary detention facility as early as August 2020. One of the witnesses who were there on 10-11 August said that there was “terrible human howling” in the detention facility. There were puddles of blood in the corridors. Vyacheslav Rogashchuk, involved in the “Pinsk case”, was beaten in the Pinsk TDF. “He was beaten for three days. It was not beating anymore, it was torture. It is the most real torture. As his cellmate said, when Slava undressed and changed shirts in the cell, everyone “ahhed”. He was beaten the hardest!” – the man’s sister said.

The relatives of another defendant, political prisoner Aleh Rubets, who spent August 10 to 13, 2020, in the TDF, spoke about the unsanitary conditions in the Pinsk temporary detention facility: “There were bedbugs, lice, everyone was bitten. The detainees were not given water in this heat. They were not allowed to use the toilets. They dragged them out of the cells and beat them for any little thing: for a word, for a wrong look. Almost all the beaten girls and boys came out of there. The girls were stripped down to their bras, and there were threats of rape”.

Those who have been in the detention centre recently say that little has changed since August 2020. Ales Romanovich got detained while walking in the centre of Pinsk with a badge “Pogonia”. He was placed in a five-bed cell, where he was subjected to almost unbearable conditions. Ales was not allowed to sleep, tortured with cold and refused to be taken to the toilet. “They wanted to intimidate me, to drive me crazy. They created a torture chamber,” the man said.

It is possible that Dzmitry, who committed suicide, also became a victim of torture in Pinsk TDF and decided to commit suicide after it. And we would like to remind you that this is not the first victim of the regime after the 2020 elections. At least 20 people have died since August 9, 2020, after interacting with the security forces – and these are just the cases we know. Dzmitry from Pinsk has become the third died at the hands of security forces since the beginning of this year. Dzmitry Ushopau died in Rechytsa after law enforcers beat him on New Year’s night. And January 6, 2022, political prisoner Dmitri Dudoyt, serving a sentence in an open-type institution, jumped off a bridge in Mahiliou.

Every time a protester dies in Belarus, we would like to believe that this will be the last victim. But then there are new deaths – we are killed for being against Lukashenko’s regime and not wanting Belarus to be Putin’s bridgehead. We hope that this terrible conveyor belt will stop soon, and the perpetrators will be held accountable for what they have done.

OUR HOUSE

International Centre for Civil Initiatives

Anti-Lukashenko protesters continue to die in Belarus

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