Prison officer beats inmate for visit of his pregnant wife (Video)

An inmate of an open type detention facility near Barysau lost consciousness two times as he was beaten with a baton and kicked.

Prison officer Aleh Kavalchuk beat inmate Aliaksandr Pronin on June 16 in open type correctional facility No. 36.

Charter97.org has learnt this from another inmate of the correctional facility.

“My name is Anton. I am serving my term in open type correctional facility No. 36 in the village of Navasady of the Barysau district. I have been there since May 22. Prison officer Aleh Kavalchuk, a rare sadist and lowlife, works there. I have been in the pretrial detention facility in Minsk, in Zhodina and in the Shklou penal colony, but I have never met such people. I refused to believe what other inmates said about him until saw it with my own eyes,” the inmate writes.

The reason for beating was that a pregnant woman visited her common-law husband Aliaksandr Pronin. They were sitting quietly on a bench talking when Aleh Kavalchuk appeared. He said presence of Aliaksandr Pronin's wife within the territory of the corrections facility was illegal. Aliaksandr asked which law it violated. Prison officer Kavalchuk handcuffed him and took Aliaksandr for a blood alcohol test.

Aliaksandr Pronin saw that the doctor was on friendly terms with Kavalchuk and supposed that he would be found drunk. He refused to take a test.

Kavalchuk took the inmate back to the correctional facility, ordered him to enter the room for inmates, knocked him down, sat on him and began to deliver punches.

The exact number of blows is unknown, but Aliaksandr Pronin says he received at least 20 strikes mainly to the head and kidneys. Aliaksandr lost consciousness two times during the beating.

The inmate says he thought the prison officer only used his fists, but other inmates who saw the process through the window say Kavalchuk also used a baton.

Aliaksandr Pronin was then handcuffed to a bench in the room and stayed there for a long time. Aliaksandr's friends brought him water in secret and tried to call an ambulance. According to law, only the staff of a correctional facility can call an ambulance. Doctors ignore calls from inmates.

Aliaksandr Pronin was uncuffed at 1:00 a.m. He could return back to common cell and take his mattress. He put the mattress on the concrete floor in the room for inmates and remained there until morning.

Kavalchuk saw his state in the morning and ordered the half-unconscious inmate to sigh a document saying that he had received a bruise on half of his face by rubbing his face against the metal fence and that bruises on his head, sides, arms and legs were caused by “falling again and again on the concrete floor”.

The chief of the correctional department called an ambulance. The inmate had to tell the medical team the version of the prison officers, because Kavalchuk was near.

As soon as the ambulance left the territory of the correctional facility, Aliaksandr Pronin told the doctors what had happened and asked to call the police to file a complaint against Kavalchuk.

Aliaksandr was taken to Barysau's central district hospital with the diagnosis of kidney contusion. He discharged from hospital on June 28.

The Barysau district department of the Investigation Committee carries out an inquiry in connection with bodily harm to inmate Aliaksandr Pronin. Inmates of the correctional facility say they don't hope for a fair decision in the case.