'They Take Her To Procedures On A Long Chain And With A Sheepdog'

What punitive psychiatry looks like for political prisoners in Navinki.

Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk, a political prisoner and activist of the European Belarus civil campaign, was forcibly transferred to Navinki.

What can a prisoner of Lukashenka's regime expect in a psychiatric hospital? A former political prisoner who was also forcibly transferred to Navinki told Charter97.org on condition of anonymity:

- They wash you with chlorine when you arrive and you have to change all your clothes, not even your underwear. There is a full medical examination. You are only allowed to go to the toilet within a timetable - otherwise you have to use a bucket (in the cell). X-rays and other procedures are carried out in handcuffs, on a long chain and with a sheepdog. You are not allowed to have anything in your cell, not even toothbrushes or soap. Toothbrushes and soap are kept in lockers in the corridor. Bread cubes are the only entertainment.

You could not leave your cell or move around the hospital as if you were on "death row":

- The roommates in the "ward" will be murderers who will try to "play affect" during the crimes committed.