The evolution of Akrescina: how the conditions of detention have changed since the beginning of 2020

Mikalai, a resident of Minsk (the man's last name is not given for security reasons), has served administrative arrest three times in recent years at the Center for Isolation of Offenders at Akrescina. This happened every two years: in 2020, 2022, and 2024. He agreed to tell Viasna how the attitude of the detention facility's administration and staff and detention conditions have changed during this time.

The first time Mikalai was detained was on September 13, 2020, at one of the Sunday protest actions — the March of Heroes, somewhere at the end. According to human rights activists, about 500 people were detained that day in Minsk alone.

"Some of the protesters decided to march to Yarmoshyna's house [the previous Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission of Belarus — translator's note]. And so we come to Arena City, and then the path leads us into some kind of dead end. Many people were detained there, taken to the Centraĺny police department, beaten there, and I also got hurt. They beat me until I lost consciousness. They poured water on me to bring me to my senses. Then they took me to Akrescina," says Mikalai.

Arrests in Minsk during the Sunday march on September 13, 2020. Archive photo

"Solving crosswords with pieces of chocolate"

Mikalai says that in September, the treatment at the temporary detention facility was almost lenient. The employees were probably afraid and were not sure what the next few days would be like:

"Everyone is mostly polite, and they accept care packages for the detained. And hygiene products, and food, and books, and magazines. The volunteers once gave us some crossword puzzles. But there were no pencils or pens in the cell, because you can't have them. So we broke off pieces of chocolate, wrapped them in toilet paper so that they wouldn't melt in our hands, and filled out the cells in the crossword puzzle. We had such luxuries at that time. At that time, the Center for the Isolation of Offenders also had bed linen in the cells and no bleach was poured on the floor. There were five of us in a five-person cell."

"They deliberately placed homeless people or alcoholics with us so that they would "get on our nerves" at night.

Mikalai appeared at Akrescina again two years later. During this time, the attitude towards those detained significantly changed.

"In 2022, I was an observer at the trial of a friend who was tried under Article 342. And on June 30, a young policeman was standing at the entrance in the new building of the Savetski District Court. He commented on the sticker with the Chase coat of arms on my phone. He said: 'Wow, this is a Nazi symbol! We'll sort it out now.' So he called the police. They drew up a report and took me to the court. The report said that I violated public order in the courthouse: I swore and waved my arms. And the video camera was ostensibly not working at that time, so I couldn't prove anything, and in the evening they took me to Akrescina.

We were thrown into the so-called 'control cell' on the ground floor. The situation has changed. The cell was overcrowded, the washbasin was broken, water was flowing on the floor all the time," the man recalls.

Mikalai suggests that the cells for political prisoners were intentionally overcrowded to make it harder to endure the heat. At the same time, there were empty cells nearby.

"They also placed homeless people or alcoholics with us on purpose, so that they wouldn't let us rest at night and would 'get on our nerves.' I had to sleep on the wooden floor, since there were no mattresses anymore, and you couldn't lie on metal plates for long.

We saved from the heat by pouring water on ourselves. There were two plastic bottles in the cell, and we filled them with water and poured it over ourselves.

As early as 2022, the arrested were woken up at night for inspections, or the guards knocked with batons on the doors of the cell," says Mikalai.

Another man notes that at that time there were no bedbugs or cockroaches in the cells.

"There were a lot of cockroaches in the sixth cell, and it's good that they don't bite"

The last time, in the second half of August 2024, Mikalai was detained by KGB officers. He believes that it happened because he had previously held several public events.

Mikalai immediately noticed the changes that had taken place for the worse.

"What has changed there in two years? Bedbugs and cockroaches appeared, but finally there was hot water. I slept on the floor and was severely bitten in the morning. The guards always poured bleach all over the tiled floor. This cell was crowded, there were a lot of homeless people. There was no washbasin, and the water was flowing from the faucet in the wall.

I was told that the food was delivered by a strange woman who could just pour soup with a ladle through the feeder onto the floor in the cell and say: 'Here you go, eat!'

We were not allowed to sleep even standing up, leaning against the wall. If they noticed you, they could punish everyone by standing for half a day.

There were a lot of cockroaches in the sixth cell, and it's good that they don't bite.

They have already organised special 'political cells' in Akrescina: two men's and one women's. And that's when 20 people were placed in a four-person cell.

Unlike, for example, in 2020, when I was in detention with neighbourhood activists, with journalists, or in 2022, when I was doing time with those who were detained for a Ukrainian ribbon, for different comments, now there were many who were detained for different tattoos. This group was more diverse: petty thieves, hooligans, those detained for subscriptions. Many were re-detained according to the formula: 15-15-15 days.

Left Belarus because of the close attention of the KBG

Next, Mikalai speaks about food and living conditions in the Center for Isolation of Offenders in 2024.

"First they bring tea and dry, brittle, nasty bread, which is hardly edible because it can upset your stomach. There was white bread and black bread. Then they gave us porridge, completely unsalted, without fat. Usually oatmeal or ground barley.

Breakfast was brought on time, and lunch could be an hour or more late. For lunch, we had thin soups or borscht. They gave us a sausage, boiled egg, or a nasty patty with cooked grains. We got pickled cucumbers a couple of times and it was nice. Sometimes there was fish, mackerel, for example. It was cool. Diluted dried-fruit drink or kissel was given several times.

There was hot water, soap, and a bucket that could be filled with water, since there was no washbasin.

Most of all, we complained about the large number of bedbugs. You just fall asleep and after 15 minutes you feel that you're being gnawed by bedbugs everywhere. The lights were turned off several times at night. It's cool, it seems. But we asked them to turn it on, because the bugs would have devoured us. But with the light you could kill them. The bedbugs hid somewhere during the day. Someone was given some ointment and we applied it on the bites," says the man.

After his release, the KGB showed increased attention to Mikalai. During conversations that they called him to, they hinted at cooperation, and then, they said, the criminal case would be suspended. Otherwise, "you will do time".  

"I couldn't agree to this, so at first I hid with my friends and left Belarus at the first opportunity," Mikalai sums up.