Belsat has been contacted by two guys brutally beaten up during street rallies. They described the circumstances of their brutal detention.
There’ll be no complaints
On the night of August 9-10, Yauhen walked along Kalvaryiskaia Street near the Maladzezhnaya metro in Minsk. He recalls that the protesters were walking on the bridge, and when they were in the middle, several vans with people in black arrived.
“Everybody started running away, but downstairs they were already waiting for us with batons and guns. Grenades started to explode under our feet. Riot and regular police told everyone to lie down. I tried to jump over the fence. When I climbed over, I felt like I was being grabbed by my shoulder. I turned around, but there was nobody behind me. At that moment, I didn’t understand what had happened, so I ran on. Only when I managed to hide, did I see blood coming out of my hand,” says the guy.
He made an improvised bandage and called an ambulance. The guy’s in the hospital now.
“The bone’s intact, nerves aren’t affected, overall it’s all very well… Only the soft tissue is damaged. The arm doesn’t hurt much.”
He won’t write any complaints – he’s afraid of being persecuted by the security forces.
“They came and took pictures of me when I was under anesthesia,” said the guy.
His survival is a miracle
Kiryl [name changed – belsat.eu] was injured on August 10 at the Kamarouski market. He was shot in the buttock by riot police.
“They attacked us in front of the square at the market, everyone was jammed and they started beating us. I was running away, and they shot me in the back almost at point-blank range.”
After Kiryl was wounded, he was knocked down and taken to the bus, where he was beaten further. Then there was a paddy wagon and a trip to the police station. There the man was forced to stand on his knees for a long time and was beaten periodically.
“When I felt that I couldn’t stand anymore and felt that I was bleeding, they asked me to lie down on my stomach. They said it was bleeding,” describes Kiryl.
As the guy was later told by the doctors, he sustained a gunshot wound of moderate severity. Kiryl was shot with a rubber bullet the size of half a palm.
“Doctors told me it was more of an accident that I didn’t bleed out and die.”
Kiryl will be in the hospital for another week. He says that some nurses like to call maimed people “morons” and “militants”. However, others, on the contrary, say that they are good.
He will not complaint about the law enforcers either — he is afraid that he will be brought to justice.
- On August 9, presidential elections were held in Belarus. According to the official data, they were won by Alyaksandr Lukashenka with 80% votes in his favor.
- The official rallies triggered a strong wave of protests in the country, lasting for the fourth day.
- According to the order of the authorities, law enforcement agencies are actively using force: they shoot the crowd with rubber bullets, use gas and flash grenades. Hundreds of people have suffered, thousands have been detained.
