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Officer on the Side of People: Events on Marches Had an Enormous Impact on Conscripts

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Officer on the Side of People: Events on Marches Had an Enormous Impact on Conscripts
Photo: Reuters

After August 9, four officers in the unit where Aliaksandr served, wrote their resignations.

Aliaksandr is an officer who resigned from the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs after the election because of his political views. He frankly told Salidarnasts about the things he saw on the other side of the barricades after the presidential campaign and the sentiments in the unit.

In the presidential election, he voted early for Tsikhanouskaya because he was on duty on August 9.

- Everything was, as usual, recalls Aliaksandr (name changed at the request of the hero of the publication).

- All units switch to a high-security service before the election and get ready to suppress real mass riots, not the ones we had.

We had the task to protect public order in Minsk. In the morning, we arrived in the city. Remarkably, there was complete silence: no cars, no people, no police. We spent the day sitting in the vehicles. In the evening, we received a command to head towards Nemiha.

I did not see any violence there. Chains of military and police were walking. People were slowly moving away. The epicentre of events was closer to the Stela. I heard grenades exploding and water cannons driving by.

According to Aliaksandr, that night after the election, he saw two people throwing tiles in the direction of the military. He saw one former high-ranking law enforcement officer beating the detained people.

- I couldn't get it. Once, people were between the military and the police, nobody resisted. Why had the law enforcer to beat people?

Our unit had been taking part in a "special operation to suppress mass riots" until four in the morning. People in the city yelled at us, "Fascists! Monsters! What are you doing?"

According to Aliaksandr, on the night of August 10, there were few such people. The degree of hatred towards law enforcers increased in the following days.

For two weeks after the election, the officers were not allowed to go home. The military went to the city according to the schedule and stayed in the cars.

- Ideologists tried to create a festive atmosphere in the unit - they turned on the music on the radio. The point of interest is that before August 9, no one gave us the task to use force. However, after the election, we were told (not in the form of an order) to use force during detentions. Simply put, to beat people for them not to go out to rallies anymore.

It was the first time when Aliaksandr considered resignation.

- One should see that every person has a choice. No one can force you by any order to chase someone down and beat him. I instructed my subordinates on the use of force: if only their life is at risk or they witness a real crime. If people are walking, one must not hit them.

I thought it would be better for me to stay than if someone else was in charge. A month later, I realized I was supporting violence by staying in the unit.

Not all officers shared that position. I saw the deputy commander-in-chief of the internal troops beating a man on the ground with his feet. I know one of the chiefs instructed his subordinates to throw stones at passing cars that honked in solidarity with the protesters.

Aliaksandr's dismissal took two months.

- My chiefs told me I would regret it, lose a lot of money and wouldn't find another job like that. The whole ideology aims to convince you that no one was waiting for us out of the army. However, people are quitting. No one has complained that one feels worse. Many people have their contracts expired this summer. Some of them do not plan to extend them. By the way, four officers in the unit wrote their resignation letters after August 9. The meeting of top officials raised the topic. It said there was no need to retain any of them. Officers were dismissed within a month - that was the minimum threshold.

Speaking about the sentiments among the military, Aliaksandr notes that ten per cent of the contract officers in his unit have an adequate position and realize that the election was unfair.

- Thirty per cent see the truth and admit the elections were rigged. However, they adhere to their position is "I'm alright Jack" position. Half of them are like Colonel Krivonosov from the Homel region, who received a charge of energy from Lukashenka.

As for the conscripts, it is easier to influence them than a policeman who goes home every day. The conscripts have zero information, telephones are not allowed, they can read SB, On Duty and Voiskovy Vestnik.

Some soldiers believed 20 protesters had received money to take to the streets and cry out. In the centre of Minsk in September, I remember a soldier saw part of the column and said: twenty people are going. Half an hour later, he saw a formidable column at the Palace of Sports and was very surprised when he realized he had been deceived. Things the conscripts saw at the marches had an enormous influence on them. During the fall draft, some people were in jail on Okrestina or fined under Article 23.34. Such conscripts get a red marking on their service records.

Within a month after the dismissal, Aliaksandr received offers on social networks to sell drugs, make a stash of drugs.

- Naturally. I refused. As I suspected, later it turned to be a provocation.

Now Aliaksandr is looking for a new job and acquiring a new profession.

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