Second anniversary of election'2010 - number of detainees still unknown

"I guess, since 2 a.m. till 5 a.m. we were trying to find out who of us was free and able to go to courts on the next morning", - Alena Tankachova says at the press-conference dedicated to publication of the book "The Afterword... Square-2010 Through the Eyes of Belarusian Human Rights Defenders".  

121217_pilecki_prava_0.mp3

The book contains complete database on criminal and administrative processes, including 350 hours of audio recordings of all 14 "Decembrists" trials and more than a thousand pages of transcripts and interviews. However, even such scope does not include the whole information. Tankachova says that in December 2010, the HR defenders were able to cover about 70% of processes, learned about 780 detainees, and interviewed 350 people after their release.

One can only imagine what a surprise it was for all the human rights defenders themselves. Tatsyana Ravyaka says that the whole staff of the human rights center “Vyasna” was convinced of the peaceful development of the events one hour before the closing of voting stations in  the evening of December 19.
 
"We believed in the peaceful variant of the events till the very last, until we received information about the beating of Nyaklyaeu."

The night attack on the human rights defenders themselves became an even greater surprise. A 3 o'clock in the morning, strong guys arrived to “Vyasna” office and arrested all the 12 people who “survived” the dispersal of the demonstration in the Independence Square. The people were released soon, but they confiscated the office equipment - human rights activists had to literally hand-write and rewrite the lists of detainees. Ravyaka says that there was no time to sleep in the beginning of it all.

"There were days when we slept for a few hours. I remember when I was preparing the list of all the people subjected to administrative punishment, I hadn’t slept for 26 hours in a row. "

There were some confusing situations as well. The human rights activists were often confused with police officers. Relatives of detainees even called and threatened human rights activists, accusing them of fascism. It took a lot of efforts to explain them everything. And this happened at a time when there were phone calls almost every minute.

The exact number of detainees remains one of the secrets of the Square-2010. In the beginning, the HR defenders considered the number of 725 people, and then it increased to 780. Several weeks later no one knew the exact number. Darya Katkouskaya, who organized collection of parcels for all who were then in prison in Akrestsina Street, Skaryna Street and in Zhodzina, says that a significant number of detainees and prisoners did not even try to apply for help.

"They said that they would not address to human rights activists. These people did not even participate in the peaceful demonstration. Often, they were ordinary passers-by ... So, I think that this number (780 detainees, according to human rights defenders) should be bigger. I am sure that this is way bigger. "

Katkouskaya claims there were even 1000 detainees. She adds that we will never know the exact number. Meanwhile, two years after the events, there are still five prisoners whose cases are related to the Square-2010: former presidential candidate Mikalaj Statkevich, head of Vital Rymasheuski’s electoral HQ Pavel Sevyarynets, Young Front leader Zmitser Dashkevich and activist Edward Lobau, and Vasil Parfyankou, who was pardoned by Lukashenka and but then jailed for the second time for violating the rules of preventive supervision.