Sevyarynets: There's noise in the hall. I see Volechka covering her face with her hands
Pavel Sevyarynets recounted on his Facebook what he achieved by self-harming at Akrestsina.
“In the first days, it seemed like absolutely nothing.
The same solitary confinement without water, the same gloomy prison routine, only a mocking and testing expectation from the administration: well, okay, you cut yourself, what's next?
And then this happened.
Legally, I was held at Akrestsina for "days" (administrative detention). After the independence rallies at the end of 2019, I still had several protocols "hanging" over me, and by giving 15 days for each, the regime simply kept me in prison until the 2020 "elections."
But these "days" still needed to be assigned. And all around was the coronavirus pandemic. So, they "tried" via Skype. And so, a few days after that self-harm incident, on the morning of June 18, I was led to the interrogation room, where a computer was set up — for that very court Skype session.
They brought me in, sat me in front of the computer, connected, and there we were in the Frunzensky District Court of Minsk. I saw a full hall of people. Volechka, friends, lawyer Tatsiana. And I saw myself on the screen in the hall. Aha, we're live. The judge began asking her routine questions, and I started recounting the conditions in which I and Volha Mikalaychyk were being held.
The policemen started hemming and hawing, coughing, staring at me, but it was a court, a procedure! And the judge, apparently in a daze before the full hall, remained silent.
— So I had to cut my arm as a sign of protest, — I briskly finished and thrust my cut elbow directly into the computer screen.
There was noise in the hall. I saw Volechka covering her face with her hands. The officers, with terrible eyes, silently gestured: well, that's it, you're done for. The judge came to, confusedly brought the "administrative process" to the required 15 days. The laptop lid snapped shut, and I was led back to solitary confinement.
Literally half an hour later, it started. I heard boots clattering down the corridor — running, noise and commotion. A whole special forces group burst into the solitary cell, stripped me, frisked me, commands on the radios — "Take him to the chief's office, quickly!"
They scurried around like cockroaches, I thought. How quick you are when things get hot!
They led me to the superiors, and there was utter chaos. A crowd of people in uniform. Colonels, crimson stripes, the Main Department of Internal Affairs for Minsk, TV cameras…
And the head of Akrestsina, who was simply shaking.
— Show your hands!
I showed them.
— Do you know what's going to happen to you now?!
— And what? — I said defiantly. — Will you finally provide me with medical assistance?
— We will, we will provide you with medical assistance! — he squeezed through gritted teeth.
In the event of a prisoner self-harming, according to a special protocol, they are sent for a psychiatric examination, and I knew this well. Yes, I thought, clear, they'll take me to "Navinki" (a psychiatric hospital), still better than this concrete box without water.
But the GUVD (Main Department of Internal Affairs) leadership, which was milling about in the corridor and offices, decided otherwise.
Later I learned that someone from the courtroom had sent a message to the media, as if I had cut my veins, although I clearly said — "cut my arm." The veins part was instantly picked up, and they wrote about a suicide attempt. And on that very same day, Babaryka was also detained, so the information poured out like gasoline on fire. People took to the streets.
And on camera, my uninjured wrists were filmed, and a police explanation was given that Sevyarynets had not cut any veins.
Of course, on the same day, the screws I had used to cut my arm were completely cut off and polished down.
A plastic bottle of water began to be given to my cell daily. The taps were not turned on until August (I think the decision to turn off the taps was, after all, a "highest command," so they were afraid to simply turn them on).
They started taking me out for an hour into the yard, and the superiors filmed my outing on their phones — as if to say, look, we're taking him for a walk (apparently, they were filming for European diplomats).
And, finally, after a few days, they even allowed a package to be delivered to me (in solitary confinement, Karl!).
A simple rule was confirmed: self-harm only works if people on the outside know about it. If the information doesn't leave the prison walls — it will be buried there forever.
And sometimes — along with the prisoner,” wrote Pavel Sevyarynets.
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