Kalyakin: “I’m grateful to police for having shown Orsha to us”
The opposition members had a good opportunity to see the life of the provinces.
"The conditions are much better then in Akrestsina, I should say. There is hot water supply and the cells are spacious. There are beds. We even had dinner. The judge ordered it. We drank kissel from cups made in India”, - says UCP leader Anatol Lyabedzka describing Orsha detention centre.
Alyaksandr Atroshchankau, coordinator of “European Belarus”
He was made to get off Minsk-Moscow train in Orsha together with Syarhei Kalyakin and Alyaksandr Atroschankau. They were accused of drug trafficking and fined for swearing two days later.
UCP leader Anatol Lyabedzka
Lyabedzka says that he had been in Orsha before but had never managed to take a closer look at the city. Head of “Fair World” Syarhei Kalyakin visited Orsha in the Soviet time. But the recent visit impressed him most. Kalyakin was taken to several hospitals due to high blood pressure. He says that he was shocked at their state.
“People who have undergone operations are kept in insanitation. The plaster is fraying out, the walls are cracked and so on. The bathtubs in the reception room where these people are kept are black. It is horrible! However, money is spent for other projects including the maintenance of officials and security agencies”.
The opposition members are worried about the absence of their passports even more. Atroshchankau, Lyabedzka and Kalyakin have complained to the police about the missing documents and are waiting for an official response now. They also say that the impossibility to go abroad will not affect their parties’ activities, everything can be done on Skype and by email now.
“We live in the time of the Internet and you can do everything without going abroad. You can attend press conferences and scientific symposia online. We can stay connected with the rest of the world and with any international body. It is childish. The people who are doing it do not understand their own goals. They are working against themselves”.
The missing passports are not the only problem of the travel banned opposition members. Syarhei Kalyakin said that each of them had lost 7 millions spent on tickets. It is not clear who can pay the damages.
