Prosecutor’s office rejects complaint against degrading conditions of detention in Salihorsk

At the request of Uladzimir Lemesh, an activist of the European Belarus opposition movement, the Salihorsk District Prosecutor’s Office has checked the conditions of detention in the city’s police department. As a result of the probe, prosecuting authorities identified certain violations of regulations for special institutions of the Interior, says a response by the supervisory authority.

As it turned out, the Prosecutor’s Office only spotted one of the numerous violations: the number of seats on the bench and at the table in the cells appeared to be lower than the number of persons the cell could accommodate. On this occasion, the Prosecutor of Salihorsk district Aleh Audzei wrote to local police chief urging the official to install the necessary equipment.

All other arguments by Uladzimir Lemesh concerning the degrading conditions of detention were called groundless by the District Prosecutor’s Office. The activist disagrees with this decision:

“You know, during the inspection officials allegedly interviewed my former inmates and the staff of the detention center. Together with the experts of the Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology, they examined the cells, took water samples, allegedly made measurements of artificial lighting and climate, and found no violations. But it is enough to watch the video surveillance footage just to see with your own eyes the crazy overcrowding during my stay there, no clothes, the three mattresses for 15 people. I think you can also see on the record the cut plastic bottles which we used to have tea, and at the same time to flush the toilet. Even the thick cigarette smoke can be easily seen on these videos, just like many other violations that could be simply hidden during the probe,” says Uladzimir Lemesh.

According to the activist, in the near future he plans to appeal against the decision of the Prosecutor’s Office to the Prosecutor’s Office of Minsk region.