“17-year-old Belarusian State Economic University students detained.”
They were standing in the chain of solidarity. Police officers threatened them.
Anastasia and Elena, both 17-year-old, are freshmen at the Faculty of International Economic Relations at the Belarusian State Economic University (BSEU). On the 10th of November, both joined a solidarity chain to support detained and expelled students. That day police forces detained 6 students. 4 of them were sentenced to 15 days in custody. Nastya and Lena are minors so they were let go. The girls told “Belsat” about the humiliation and insults they went through from the police.
On the 10th of November, a few students of the BSEU organized a solidarity initiative. The girls brought white-red-white flags and several posters, including ones saying “We stand together.” They were not shouting any slogans, but passing cars were honking to support. The silent protest happened between classes at a bus stop across the street from the main building. Even though the students were on the territory of the BSEU, the administration of the university ordered security to call the police.
The initiative barely lasted for five minutes. A police van arrived at the bus stop where the students gathered. The girls recall that men were wearing civilian clothes, balaclavas, and hats with a red-green flag.
“One girl had a flag so they tightened it around her neck and started strangling it.”
The men in black grabbed the girls and dragged them into the van. They threw Anastasia and Elena to the ground. Anastasia says that she does not remember the details of the detention, as she lost consciousness for a short time. When the girl opened her eyes she saw the officer is stepping on her hair. She was grabbed and dragged into the van along with the other three girls, thrown to the floor, and ordered to kneel with her face facing on the floor. Later they were moved to the back seat.
Anastasia says she was not beaten, but she had to watch her acquaintances being humiliated.
“They shouted that we could use some f*ing, so we would stop protesting. One girl had a flag so they tightened it around her neck and started strangling her. Another was slapped in the face for trying to protect the girl who was punched in the head. They were beating us for each word we say.”
The officers went to look for those who had run away. Two girls were detained near pedestrian underpasses, where they were hiding. They were thrown into the van as well. The officers told us to give them our phones and passports.
“I lost my phone while detention. Turned out, the officers found it in the grass. I refused to give them my password, so they threatened to mark me with paint and send it to Zodino prison.”
“They called us Stepan Putilo’s whores and prostitutes.”
The girls say that Elena suffered most. She was sitting behind the driver, with her back to him. They not only beat her, dragged her by the hair, and tore her jacket, but also strangled her. According to the student, after he asked not to touch her friends, the driver grabbed her from behind and pressed her neck against the seat with his elbow. At least two men sitting next to him were helping him.
“I told one girl to get up and sit. For my words, they started punching me in the head. I said I was not feeling well, and they started strangling me, pressing into the seat. One man was kicking me.”
All the time they were saying that we would go to Poland to mate with [the founder of the Telegram channel whose name cannot be mentioned] Stepan Putilo, called us his whores and prostitutes. “Fucking combatants, we are so fucking sick of you,” they yelled. “They called the white-red-white flag a pad,” recalls Elena.
One of the girls said she was about to lose consciousness and one of the officers asked the other to stop strangling her.
“I could not pull myself away and breathe, they shouted that I was pretending. They stopped only because one of them from behind shouted to let me go, they say, otherwise, they would have killed me. The girls stood up for me, though the officers were wringing their hands, pushing them.”
“You will be let go, but others will stay and suffer.”
The girls said they were accused of inciting protests.
“They forced others to say that it was us who urged them to come to protests,”says Elena. “Confess! These young bitches persuaded you!” they said.
“They said we knew that nothing is going to happen to us, therefore we urged others to come and protest. That said we were sure we would be let go and others will stay and suffer. They threatened that we would be forbidden to cross the border, except for Poland so we can go to see Stepa Putilo.”
The students were brought to the Department of Internal Affairs of the Zavodskoy District Administration and taken to the assembly hall. The deputy chief of the police public security of the District Police Department Sergei Vareiko came to the detainees to have a conversation, and he confirmed that the BSEU administration had called the police.
“He showed us a photo taken from a spot from where the university administration usually watches us. He asked if anyone from the university had contacted us. He said that the administration wanted the best for us, and we betrayed them. I told them about the beating, he laughed and said that there was no evidence.”
“We were asked why we were protesting. We said we disagree with violence and falsification of the electoral votes. They called us jerks. The older girls were threatened to be expelled from the university, deprivation of the dormitory room. They said that we would return to our “middle of nowhere”, where no one needs us and that we had ruined our lives,” says Elena.
“We asked why we have beaten us if we did not resist the arrest. He replied that the police had the right to use physical force, and we were the ones to blame. He also said that if his son had protested, he would have beaten him as well, because this was a betrayal, we were worthless, we were nothing and we had no rights,” adds Anastasia.
15 days in jail for 5 minutes at the bus stop
Nastya and Elena were “lucky” — the girls were not taken to Okrestino Detention Centre just because they were minors. The rest were taken for inspection to the temporary detention center.
Minor students were picked up by their parents and taken to the hospital for examination. Both were diagnosed with closed craniocerebral trauma and concussion.
“Doctors understood what happened and they were helping the best they can. The doctor who examined me told me that they constantly treat beaten protestors,” says Elena. The girl considers herself to be lucky that she was not beaten that hard.
Elena and Anastasia were detained for the second time. The girls say that they have already been contacted by the dean’s office.
“There are no formal reasons to expel me from the university, but they can find anything. 15 people have already been expelled from BSEU. Some do not want to return, others’ parents are going to go to the administration and appeal the decisions. Students were expelled for absenteeism on days when they were on sick leave, so they were not even at the protests,” says Anastasia.
Anastasia contacted human rights activists and wrote a complaint to the Investigative Committee.
Trials over the girls were held on November 12th and 13th. BSEU students Arina Brusnigina, Maria Kuren, Anastasia Glushen, Ekaterina Leonova were sentenced to 15 days in prison for the silent protest.
They were sent to Baranovichi prison.
