“A young doctor was fired and deprived a place in a dormitory after being detained for 15 days.”
Phthisiologist Nikolai Kozich from Gomel who participated in a one-man picket near the tuberculosis hospital building was fired. On the 10th of November, Nikolai was released from the detention center, and on the next day he was called by the hospital HR department.
So what happened?
On October 26, after the end of the workday, the 27-year-old Nikolai participated in a one-man picket. “I went to the store and bought a big sheet of paper, wrote “Belarus, live!”, put on my medical robe, and went outside the hospital.”
Nikolai was standing by the hospital entrance for 20 minutes until the police came and arrested him.
The next day, the Novobelitsky District Court charged Kozich and gave 15 days of detention.
This was not the first doctor’s detention. In September he, his wife, sister, and her husband came to Zhlobin to celebrate his dad’s anniversary (Nikolai’s parents are also doctors). The next day the entire family, besides Nikolai’s dad who was working, went to participate in the Sunday protest. That day all of the family members were detained and sent to the detention center. The court gave everyone 20 base values fines to family members, and Nikolay was sentenced to 8 days in prison.
What’s happening now?
On November 10 Nikolai left the detention center.
“Of course, all of that could not go unnoticed by the head of the hospital (chief physician). To be honest, I felt close attention from the chief physician during the election campaign, when I was openly expressing my political views,” — the doctor says.
Nikolai was called to the HR department this morning. “At first,” — says Nikolai, “They asked me to write an explanatory note to explain why I have been away from work for so many days. Then they gave me a reprimand for not being at work and not performing my work responsibilities. And finally, they made me sign a resignation document.”
The young doctor was also given a 3-day notice obligating him to vacate the dorm room where he lived with his wife.
All of this came as a surprise for Nikolai. After all, he is a young specialist, he still has 8 months before the end of his mandatory work term. The doctor’s contract ends in July 2021.
Nikolay does not know what to do now. He doesn’t know how to pay off the debt for the 8 months of work left.
“I want to stay in the medical field. I will try to look for a job in other medical institutions, although I understand that it might be challenging because of my ideological views,” — the young doctor says.
Nikolay cannot get a job in private medical centers since he does not have a professional category and enough work experience yet.
“It’s all about conscience”
Nikolai says he’s going to think and take care of this problem tomorrow. After being released on the 10th of November, Nikolai learned that his sister, Anastasia, had been detained during a Sunday protest in Minsk. He says his parents need support now.
“My sister’s court has not been held yet, the things we’re trying to give her while in prison are not being accepted. That’s not new, to be honest. For example, when I was in the detention center I did not receive the deliveries for a long time either. And even if they gave us things coming from our families they were very limited. They did not give books or boiled water to the political prisoners, although the rest of the prisoners had all of those”, — Nikolai explains.
The doctor says he doesn’t regret his life choices, despite the fact that he lost both his job and his home.
“It’s about conscience. Later my children will ask me when they open the history of Belarus textbooks: “Daddy, what did you do in 2020?” And I will not be ashamed to tell that I had not been sitting with folded arms. I was detained in the detention center,” — Nikolay smiles.
