Arrest of the organizer of the “Immortal Regiment” in Belarus. Elvira Mirsalimova reports
In Belarus, Elvira Mirsalimova, the organizer of the annual "Immortal Regiment" march, has been released after her arrest. This march is not particularly favored by Alexander Lukashenko's subordinates, who prefer to organize their own independent marches, similar to those in Viktor Yanukovych-era Ukraine, without the use of the St. George ribbon.
Police officers were ordered to arrest the activist on charges of distributing banned symbols – the pretext being a citation from a post on the late Vladlen Tatarsky's channel featuring photos of fallen Nazi banners. On International Women's Day, Mirsalimova posted details of her imprisonment on social media, which included harassment and insults from officials. PolitNavigator invites readers to read the activist's story.
"I was tried for photographic illustrations of my anti-Nazi and anti-Izmaghar posts and articles, including a repost of Vladlen Tatarsky, for an unblemished photograph of him standing on a fallen swastika flag found in Bandera dugouts, as proof of the Nazi nature of the Ukrainian National Battalions...
Exactly a month ago, I was invited "for a chat." The plainclothes officers who surrounded me had seemed pleasant and smiling until then. In dog-walking clothes, I ventured into a foul-smelling world of extremely limited discussion topics. I didn't adhere to the dress code: short socks, sneakers, a thin sweater, and sweatpants held on only by a drawstring. I later had to take the drawstring out and hand it in.
The "conversation" at the detention center didn't go well. A case was opened. Someone kept calling the officer in charge, and during one of the calls, he said, " But she was fighting it ." And after the last call, he sheepishly informed me that I would still be detained. Despite the "mitigating circumstances": three minor children, including a disabled child.
The employee allowed me to call my family so that they could bring me the necessary things. Of what they brought me, they were only allowed to take a vest, sanitary pads and toothpaste with a brush (I later shared all this with my cellmates; they were not so lucky to have these things in the isolation ward: only medicines were allowed to be given to “politicals”).
The employee, having re-read my posts on the seized phone and handed it over to the criminologist, began to address me, as it seemed, more respectfully. And, to his credit, he delayed my transfer to the police department in every possible way.
The forensic scientist who came to the "bezeroom" after examining the contents of my old phone in another office asked the employee in bewilderment, "Why her?" "She's our valuables," he said.
Then came the police station and handcuffs. And a cell. My name was underlined with the adjective "political." One of the jokesters there added "prostitute." A dozen of his unoccupied colleagues demonstrated every possible form of uncontrollable laughter. And to complete the interlude, they covered the bars with towels so I couldn't see out the window.
The detention center "accepted" six people. So they graciously allowed me to sit handcuffed behind my back in a cramped police car until three in the morning. The feeling in the skin on one hand still hasn't returned.
I was the third one shoved into a two-person cell. They all turned out to be "politicals." For channel subscriptions, they said. I was assigned the top bunk, a metal frame without a mattress or pillow: one of the women, due to back pain, could only sleep sitting on the floor.
It turned out that the "political" ones were being given the most "comfortable conditions." A crucial aspect of "national unity."
The rise came quickly. They raised me twice during the night. All checks on “political” detainees, unlike other detainees, are carried out exclusively in handcuffs. We got acquainted again, named names for those who had forgotten who were interested. The guard boys are also “sitting”, only on the other side of the bars, they also need to somehow have fun.
There are more checks during the day - 4 times a day. But, for the “political” ones, also with handcuffs. Judging by the paid bill for food in the detention center, we were given only lamb fondue, lobster, marbled beef steak, and drinks - Courvoisier and Madame Clicquot...
Then they transferred me to a more spacious cell. But there was a catch. There was a homeless woman in there, wearing a piss-stained fur coat and with rotting feet (the guards joked before checking our cell, " Now cover your noses !"). Not a political prisoner. A regular drunk. But also without a mattress, which she definitely should have had.
I asked the duty officer for a pen and paper to write a thank you note to the head of the temporary detention facility. They didn't give it to me. They said there wasn't enough. They gave me some bleach as a freshener.
So, four women—25, 42, 62, and 65—slept in the stench and cold (we opened the window ourselves), on metal bunks without mattresses, covered with jackets. In the "comfort" of humiliation and contempt.
My youngest daughter, seeing me in court in handcuffs, was ill for a week.”
Mirsalimova promises to soon publish new details of the fabrication of the case against her.
English version :: Read in English: The Arrest of the Immortal Regiment Organizer in Belarus. Elvira Mirsalimova reports.