Mikalai Dzyadok: Special services stand behind back of every jailer

Mikalai Dzyadok, a political prisoner, who has celebrated his 27th birthday at liberty today, is grateful to Belarusians for solidarity.

Mikalai Dzyadok said so in an interview to charter97.org website.

- Today you have a double holiday – your birthday and the day of release. The editorial office of charter97.org congratulates you on these two events. How was your release taking place? When did you learn about it?

- Many thanks for congratulations! The release was taking place like this: a door of the cell opened unexpectedly, two officers entered and told me to pack my belongings and go, and they didn’t explain where and why. I was taken to the gate of the colony, and only then I was told that I was coming home. All my things were returned to me, and I was taken outside the gates of the penal colony.

There I was met by three men looking quite suspicious, they handed me into a car, drove me to Vorsha, and gave me a ticket for a train there. From the train I called my family, and at platform I was met by relatives, comrades and human rights activists.

- What was the reason for your release?

- To my mind, there could be no other reason but a combination of such factors as economic and diplomatic pressure of the European Union on the Belarusian authorities. I think that the economic crisis is the reason why we have been released. Another additional thing was that Europe exerted pressure on Lukashenka concerning existence of political prisoners. But the downfall of the economy is the primarily factor.

- It is known that during your detention unprecedented pressure was put on you, considering the number of days spent in the penal isolation cell and incarceration conditions in the ward-type rooms. Would you characterize the actions of the administration as using tortures against prisoners?

- It depends on how wide you treat the notion of tortures. If by tortures you mean inhuman, humiliating treatment, then yes, they were used. I was often placed to rather harsh conditions. There were cells with too many people, cold cells, and cells where it was impossible to sleep.

In general attitude of jailers is dictated from the above. Special services stand behind the back of every jailer, and they order how to work with any given political prisoner and to what extent exert pressure on each of them.

For any penal facility or prison a political prisoner is as a thorn in the side, he is to invite highest attention, and administrative pressure is to be put on him in the first place.

As for tortures: it was either placing in special conditions, or psychological pressure.

- In which way psychological pressure was applied?

- These were mostly petty provocations. Either verbal, or with the help of other prisoners who were loyal to the administration. There was pitting people against each other, inciting conflict situations between prisoners, limiting correspondence, withdrawing of letters or excessive censoring of letters.

- Yury Rubtsou evaluated release of political prisoners before the “elections” as bargaining by hostages. What is your attitude to the upcoming so-called “presidential elections”?

- The institute of presidency as such is not quite democratic for me. And in the conditions of Belarus even this “weak” democratic procedure is carried out without observing formal norms and rules. It is devaluing the “elections” in the eyes of the majority of people in Belarus even more. Very many people do not believe in them.

- What would you like to say to the people who had been fighting for your liberation?

- All the time while I was behind the bars I felt this constant support, which didn’t stop even for a day. With great joy I met the news about every, even the littlest rally of solidarity, about every article in mass media. Every letter, every postcard, especially from people whom I do not know, brought great joy to me.

I had an impression that thousands of people show solidarity with me. I extend a big thank to them, that’s all I can. In a great measure thanks to their support I have held out, was not cracked in those difficult conditions and keep up my faith in what I am doing. Your support meant a lot to me, it cannot be over-emphasized.

We remind that Mikalai Dzyadok has served 4.5 years of imprisonment for alleged hooliganism against official buildings and his release was to take place on March 3, 2015. However on February 26 the court of Leninski district of Mahilyou found him guilty under Article 411 of the Criminal Code “malicious insubordination to demands of the administration” and punished him by 1 year in a penal colony. On April 30 the court of cassation upheld the verdict.