Minsk Resident Got to Akrescina and Came Out Beaten and With COVID-19

There were 38 people in the four-person cell.

In the evening of August 11, Maksim Dauzhenka was returning home with friends, but did not get there: he was detained by AMAP, writes tut.by. More than two days the young man spent in the CIP on Akrescina and Came Out Beaten and With COVID-19, after which doctors recorded a closed TBI, a bruised chest, hematomas, a burn of the hand, as well as COVID-19. According to Maksim, 38 people were in the cell with him. "One of them directly said that he had a coronavirus, he was on self-isolation, went out to buy cigarettes — and they took him away. But the employees of the CIP did not react to this in any way; they only frightened us that we would get not only have "COVID"," says Maksim.

Maksim Dauzhenka is 25 years old. On the evening of August 11, he and three other young men were driving from Kamiennaja Horka to Zialiony Luh. On the way, we decided to have a snack and stop at the shopping center "Coin," where you can buy various fast food until midnight. This was the beginning of their history of detention.

— Not far from "Coin," there was a patrol car taking people. Since we were sure that we had nothing to fear, we reached the patrol, wanted to turn around in the Parking lot. But suddenly people in uniform and with weapons in their hands ran up to us, ordered us to leave, raised their hands, took our phones, and laid them on the ground.

After, says Maksim, a minibus arrived, people were already lying on the floor in it. The new detainees were ordered to "fall on top."

— We were driven for about a minute and dumped on the lawn somewhere near the Riga supermarket. There were already detainees lying there. Each of us was approached and asked questions in turn. They asked me where I worked. I replied that I work in the center for behavior and speech correction. After that, with the words "you're still laughing," I was hit in the ribs with a truncheon. And I really work at the children's center for development and correction of speech and behavior "Alyosha." Then they asked me if I smoked — and put out a lighted cigarette on my palm. The next employee asked where I was from, didn't wait for an answer, and immediately stepped on my buttocks between my legs.

After that, Maksim says, a paddy wagon arrived, where the detainees were loaded.

— Before landing, they searched, took away a pack of cigarettes, 70 Belarusian rubles (left change), took off their fitness watch, and ordered them to crawl on their knees into the open door of the paddy wagon.

Maksim admits that until this summer, he did not even know about the existence of Akrescina in Minsk. When he and his friends were brought there, he did not immediately understand where he was.

— When we were "unloaded," I found myself next to Sviataslau, my friend. His dreadlocks had already been cut off. When we ran through the corridor of AMAP, we were hit on the back, buttocks, legs.

The next 5-6 hours, Maksim recalls, he spent on the street, kneeling and pressing his head to the ground.

— I was still "lucky": the hands were not fixed with a screed, as in other detainees. Throughout this time, we have been asked who has what phone number. They wrote down names and passwords. We also had "political conversations" about past elections. Like, we are to blame for everything, we wanted changes, so now we get what we deserve.

Maksim says that everyone who complained of stiff legs was beaten with truncheons. He himself began to feel sick in the morning, at some point, he began to lose consciousness.

— When I asked for medical help, an employee in a t-shirt with the inscription AMAP ran up to me, hit me on the head and asked: "Did it help?"

In the early morning, all the detainees were ordered to undress, and then transferred to the courtyard, Maksim continues. According to his calculations, there were already about 150 people there.

— They were on all fours, just as we were before. We were ordered to dress. The last person to get on their knees and elbows was promised a "back massage." The courtyard was crowded with people. After a while, we were allowed to stand up and brought out a white bucket with the words "arrange your life." I finally met my friends in the courtyard. People were scared, many were beaten. One guy had a broken arm; others had their teeth knocked out. Many people I spoke with said they were captured anywhere but at a rally.

Only a day later, Maksim says, the detainees were given water — about four liters for 137 people. The white bucket soon overflowed.

In the evening, Maxim and his friends were transferred to a cell. It had four beds and 38 people.

After the coolness of the street, I smelled the stale air, mixed with the smell of dirty Laundry, urine, and sour sweat. Sviataslau and I crawled under the bed that stood by the window. The floor was hard, but it was better than the bare, damp concrete outside. I lay down under the bed and put my trowel under my head, and for the first time in a while, I fell asleep in comfort.

In the cell, Maksim met all the neighbors. One of them said that he was ill with COVID-19.

— As far as I remember, he told the guards that he was on self-isolation, went to the store for cigarettes, and was detained. There was no reaction — they only frightened us that we would get not only have "COVID." We took it calmly: against the background of everything that was happening, getting infected with the coronavirus did not seem such a tragedy, it was not up to that. Although the cell was very stuffy, there was not much room, and we were given four bottles of water from the tap. We all took turns drinking from them.

The next day, Maksim recalls, a man in civilian clothes came to their cell and started asking questions: "Have you been beaten here? Bullied? Is there a claim?"

— After everything that happened, people were afraid to tell the truth. Sviataslau stood closest to the door window, shorn, with a swollen eye, he sarcastically replied: "No, they didn't beat me at all." We managed to inform this person that there is a minor among us in the cell. To which he calmly responded and replied that in a couple of hours, we all will be released. Remembering the guy with the broken fingers, we vied with each other to ask this person for medical assistance. The man promised that a nurse would examine him soon. But no one came.

After the visit of a "man in ordinary clothes," the attitude towards the detainees changed, says Maksim. His friends were released, and he was transferred to another cell, where there were more beds than people.

— When they lined us up to lead us to the first floor, everyone put their hands behind their backs, bent their heads, and ran after each other. However, this time we were told that we can go normally, "everything is already in order." We went down to the courtyard, where we were ordered to line up in two columns and take turns entering the office to sign some papers.

Maksim was released without trial on the morning of August 14. Why and for what he was detained, he still does not understand.

Maksim Dauzhenka was met by volunteers at the gates of TSIP, given a call to relatives, fed, examined, and photographed the wounds, and called an ambulance. Doctors took Maxim to the Minsk Central district hospital, which is located in Barauliany. Doctors have fixed at it closed cranial trauma of easy degree, a thorax bruise, hematomas of scapular region and both knee areas, abrasion on his legs, and the burn of the left hand. Doctors also gave Maksim a test for COVID-19 — he showed a positive result.

Maxim spent a week in the hospital. He says that he feels fine, but still has a headache.

— Time has passed, now it is perceived differently, although then it was very scary. When they take you away, and you don't know why. When you are beaten, bullied, and you do not understand why it all happens.

Maksim says that he intends to submit an application to the Investigative Committee. However, he cannot do this now: he must remain in self-isolation until the beginning of September. For the same reason, he can't pick up his belongings from the store.

The family went there, but got only the laces and two straps. The phone was not found. I'm the only one with "COVID," my friends didn't do tests, but they feel fine. Although, I have it without any special symptoms. I don't know what happened to the people I was with when I was in the cells.