Andrei Kim: I thought they would add eight years to my term
“I have been pardoned by Lukashenka. Thank him for this”, Kim says ironically. “They gave me a document, saying that I was freed on the grounds of the pardon of the Belarusian president, and pushed me out. I did not even have enough time to pack my things. I was given only seven minutes to get out. But I felt sleepy after a night shift”.
To Andrei’s mother, Tatsiana, the three hours that her son took to reach Minsk from Babruisk was the last ordeal. Andrei got stranded on his way because of a heavy luggage – almost 50 kg of mostly books. The mother was worried, as the travel should not take more than one hour. She had learned the road to Babruisk very well over the past months.
“I would go to him every week. I left my job only to deal with his affairs”, says Tatsiana Kim.
Andrei is now free and says he will take care of his affairs himself. He will start right after getting a good sleep. The young man noted that he had been under high pressure in the recent weeks. Andrei thought that they would even extend his term of imprisonment. Although he heard about the release of Alexander Kozulin, he did not really count on his.
“In principle, I did not expect to be freed, because I had faced with numerous provocations in the recent months. I thought they would add eight more years to my term. I was put on night shifts to prevent me from having contracts with other people. So, I would sleep during day hours and worked in the night. Today, they disorganized my schedule”, Kim says ironically.
He has no complaints about the conditions he had to stay in. Andrei says they are considered standard for Belarus. He was very impressed with the number of innocent convicts. In his view, up to 70 percent of inmates serve their terms on trumped-up charges.
“When I was being tried, my attitude was very negative. But when I ended up in the colony, I saw a lot of people – managers, scientists, musicians – sitting 6 or 8 years on trumped-up charges. I realized then that I was damn lucky, because I was given only 1.5 years”.
Photo: Yulia Darashkevich, Nasha Niva
