Maksim Viniarski: Police department deputy chairman demanded that I left for two years

The coordinator of the European Belarus civic campaign was released after a 12-day arrest.

During the whole time of being in jail in Akrescina Street in Minsk Maksim Viniarski was on hunger strike protesting against the illegal detention and court’s decision. He shared this in an interview to the charter97.org web-site.

“I was detained near the Korona trading center. - Maksim Viniarski said. – No one explained why, the policemen said one word “police” and pushed into a car. There I saw a document specifically on me. They had pictures made at one of events, passport prints. I was taken to Frunze district police department, and then directly to court. Only from there I could inform of my detention via a lawyer.

From the court back to the police department I was taken by the deputy head of the department Halavin. He very clearly said that the detention was linked to the upcoming events, in particular with the Chernobyl Shlakh. For the time of the Ice Hockey World Championship he insistently advised to leave the city. Even more, he claimed that in order to avoid detentions and arrests I should leave the country for two years, “until my name gets forgotten”. “All the smart people should now leave the country”, - he emphasized”.

Maksim Viniarski told about the conditions of his detention in the jail in Akrescina Street and the treatment by the wardens.

“I spent almost the whole time in a signal cell. Only on the first days there was a Spanish-speaking African waiting for being deported. There was no communication with him. There was no response to any of the three of my appeals, addressed to the head of the jail. The first one was on the hunger strike, the second – on change of the cell, third – asking for permission to send a letter.

I was on hunger strike for the whole time of the arrest, on the sixth day I started drinking water.

Only after a visit from a lawyer the local doctor inspected me. The inspection on her part came down to measuring the blood pressure and pulse, while I was not given the results. “Blood pressure is good”, - was the only thing the doctor said. It was “good” when I was on dry hunger strike, and when I had the health condition strongly deteriorated so I could not even speak normally.

When it went really bad, they called an ambulance. For that it was enough to knock on the door and croak something – apparently I looked that bad. This took place on the sixth day, I think. The ambulance came, I got inspected. I could not speak normally with the doctors at all and explain anything to them. I think, the jail administration told them they would not let them take me to a hospital in any case. The doctors said: “nothing special” and left”, - Maksim Viniarski said.

For the second time it was the lawyer of the European Belarus civic campaign’s coordinator Volha Biezbarodkina, who demanded to call an ambulance, but the head of the prison refused to do so. According to him, the decision should be taken by the prison doctor.

“If he wants to die in the cell – may he die in the cell”, - Maksim Viniarski quotes the head of the institution. Although, after that the policeman said that “if there is a necessity, we would get him on the drip in the cell”.

The activist emphasized that considering the warning on the part of the deputy head of the Frunze district police department, he was sure that he would soon be arrested again on falsified charges.

We would remind that the coordinator of the European Belarus civic campaign was detained by police on 22 April in Minsk at the exit of the Korona trading center. The policemen claimed that the activist “looked similar to a wanted person”, however already at the police station he was accused of insubordination to policemen, and a protocol was composed on an administrative violation. On the same day the judge of Minsk Frunze district Liudmila Lapo found Maksim Viniarski guilty and sentenced him to a 12-day arrest.

On trial Viniarski, who suffering from a sore throat, felt bad. The ambulance doctors, who arrived, stated that he needed to be taken to a hospital, but the policemen claimed they would take him to an isolation center. In response Viniarski went on dry hunger strike.

Recently Maksim Viniarski spent over 300 days in prison, which has seriously affected his health condition. At the time of the latest detention policemen demanded that he leave Minsk for the time of the Ice Hockey World Championship.