Innocent musical instrument craftsman tortured by police


They beat him as much as they could, drove a pin under his fingernail, twisted his fingers, and then threw him into the corridor so as not to stain the sofa with blood. This is how the police forced the man to confess to participating in the protests in Pinsk.

On August 10, a musical instrument craftsman Andrei Shklyoda came from his village in the Pinsk region to the regional center to buy food and visit relatives. In the evening, his brother and wife accompanied him to the bus, and on the way they had to go to the store and buy some more food. In the center of Pinsk – on Kirau Street – a passenger car with covered license plates suddenly drove up to them. People in civilian clothes jumped out of the car and, without introducing themselves, attacked the men with batons. They pushed them down onto the asphalt, twisted their arms back and handcuffed them.

Photo was sent to Belsat.eu by Andrei Shklyoda

“I was shocked. I thought that maybe, those are some bandits and who confused me with someone, ”recalls Andrei Shklyoda.

After that, the man was taken to the police station in a car, and his brother was taken away by the traffic police.

“They beat and called names all the time. They beat me on the street and in the car, but the worst was still to come in the police station,” said the craftsman.”They thrashed me, shook me, beat me with their hands and feet, with truncheons, hit me on the head with some short metal object, heavy as a sledgehammer. They turned me over to face the floor, one of the security officials pushed my head down with his foot, and the other beat me from above – maybe 20 or even 30 times. I thought it would never end. “

According to Andrei, about 10 people beat him. Some were in the uniform of riot police. They kept repeating: “This is for our guys.”

Andrei Shklyoda

The craftsman felt especially painful when they beat him on the handcuffs. “The iron cut into my hands, blood flowed, the pain was unbearable. They twisted my fingers. One of them drove a pin from poster under my fingernail. But the other said that he shouldn’t bother. They shouted that they would execute me by shooting. Other people were also heavily beaten in the room. It’s hard for me to say how many of them, because yellow light flickered in my eyes, and there was a hum in my ears. A 18-year-old boy cried that they would now shoot us. And I also sincerely believed in this then. He began to pray and prepare for death. And they laughed. However, the strikes were weaker then, ”Andrei Shklyoda said.

As he recalls, at a certain moment he was possessed by a powerful feeling of despair and hopelessness, that he was ready for any outcome. “There was such lawlessness that the hair stood on end. Worse than in a slaughterhouse where pigs and cows are slaughtered. My whole life flashed before my eyes, ”says Andrei.

If someone in the room expressed discontent or tried to prove that he was innocent, they would beat them even harder. Andrei was covered in blood. Blood flowed from two nostrils and from the chin.

“There was a sofa in the office, so the police were afraid that I would stain the sofa and clothes with it,” they dragged me out and threw me in the corridor. The handcuffs were not removed. I was lying in a pool of my own blood,” the detainee said.

In the corridor, one of the riot policemen stood with his foot on the detainee’s neck and head. Later, the beaten person was lifted, since he was not able to get to his feet on his own, and dragged to the next room. There they put him against the wall and began to check the backpack.

“They shouted to me: you stinking bum! I have a beard, so they probably thought I was a priest. They shouted at me: priest! I was silent, did not refuse, I thought that maybe they would beat less me,” said the craftsman.

The man had savings in dollars with him, set aside in order to finally pay off for the house he bought this year in a village near Pinsk.

“When the police saw the money, they started shouting that I was bringing dollars to the rally in order to pay people for taking part in the revolution,” Andrei said.

Then the detainee was dragged to the shooting range and literally thrown head first. They threw me several wet wipes and ordered: “Wipe your snout! Wipe it well.” The prisoners also mistook Andrei for a priest, whispering: “Look, look, they are beating a priest. We understand why they would beat us, but why beat a priest?”

There were a lot of people in the shooting range – about 200 men and women. Later the people were ordered to sit down as there was no room for the new arrivals. These were mostly random people who walked from shops or returned from work. There were bread loaves, tomatoes, sausage from their bags lying nearby. It was impossible to look at the policemen. The one who raised his eyes received another series of blows.

Photo was sent to Belsat.eu by Andrei Shklyoda

“At the shooting range, something happened to the girl. They carried her out unconscious. There was some fuss. They even seemed to have become a little kinder … The policemen said later that the girl had committed suicide. I thought they could kill everyone and call it a suicide. There was an old man. The police thought he fell asleep and was snoring in his sleep. And he was unconscious and wheezing because he could not breathe. They said that he had a heart problem. I don’t know what happened to them,” Andrei said.

According to him, in the morning an officer, the head of the police, came and said that 90% of those detained were innocent. He apologized and explained that it was a special operation. Said:

“But we cannot free you just like that. Such is the law that we will award fines. We don’t have enough for ammunition. And to arrest you costs money — this is the government’s resources spent, we need to feed the guys. “

Andrei could not believe his own ears:

“Do I still have to pay for the fact that they beat me? Awesome treatment! ”

The craftsman was brought to the investigator, who set a condition: we will release you only when there are no complaints. Andrei wanted to get out of the police torture chambers as quickly as possible, so he agreed. He was ordered to sign some paper, but he was not allowed to read it.

Returning home, he did not get out of bed for two days, his every movement hurt.

“I can’t work with my hands. I don’t know, maybe they hurt some nerves there, I don’t feel two fingers on my right hand. A client called, wanted to place an order, but I refused. I’m all crushed, twisted, like minced meat, ”says Andrei.

He emphasizes that fear would not go away. The policemen in the department threatened not only him, but also his wife and child.

“I believe they can kill. They are capable of anything,” says Andrei.

Viktar Shukelovich/belsat.eu

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