Forty days of detention in total and the threat of “felony charges”

The family from Salihorsk is in a difficult situation

9 September 2020 | Anya Perova, TUT.BY 

For the first time, Uladzimir Shyla, a citizen of Salihorsk, was arrested on 9 August. He was given a detention of 25 days. For the second time, he was arrested on 26 August. Now, the man is still there, and if you add together  the days of detention as per court’s decisions, he’s got 40 days of detention  in total. Will he be released out after them? Family’s not sure anymore. We spoke to his son, Ivan, who told us the details of the story.

How did the citizen of Salihorsk end up behind the bars

Uladzimir Shyla is 57 years old, he is an engineer by training. He lives in Salihorsk. He worked in both public and private companies. Now he designs houses and  makes renovations  as an individual entrepreneur.

Ivan says openly: his father went to meetings all the time.

“Since 2001, my father has been an independent observer. And on August 9th of this year he was  there as well. After the pooling station was closed, he went to the square in Salihorsk,” Ivan tells. There he was arrested: people gathered, then riot police  came and  that’s all.

Shyla was only released on 17 August, on Monday. In general, the first sentence was 25 days (according to 23.4 and 23.34 articles of Code of Administrative Offences – disobedience to the police demands and violation of the procedures for organizing mass events), but at the end of the first week after the election authorities began to release the detainees. Uladzimir was among the last 120 released.

Man had to write to the Office of the Attorney General, and by some miracle, they let him go.

The family took Uladzimir from detention center located in Liuban’.

“That day my father couldn’t believe what was going on. The very fact of the release in Belarus is astonishing, and we also showed him photos of hundreds of thousands of people who went to the streets in Minsk, videos of MZKT (Minsk factory of wheeled tractors)…” recalls Ivan. 

“When we got to Salihorsk, we saw, as we passed by, that about a thousand people with White-Red-White flags had gathered in the central square. There were speakers, a stage, water – everything was organized.”

As a result, Shyla decided to speak to the audience.

“To be honest, it was my father’s first speech, which I really enjoyed, admits Ivan. Considering the way people reacted  to the speech, everybody liked it too. It was quite funny and cheerful. The father said that we have everything: the Belarusian sky, the Belarusian land, we only lack the Belarusian governance.”

According to the family, mainly for this speech Uladzimir was arrested again, on August 26, and sent to finish the detention of 25 days.

“You can write 20 police reports for each of them”

People who were in a prison cell with Shyla and were released call his wife or sons periodically. So the family knows what needs to be sent to prison.

“This morning, 9 September, we were sure that we would pick up my father as early as Saturday. Mom called the detention center and it turned out that 15 more days had been added. How did the trial go? We have no idea. As far as I understand, this is due to participation in meetings after he was released.”

Ivan believes that the situation in the country is tragic.

“Back in the day, you  went to a meeting on, let’s say, 25 March, then you went to jail and that’s all. Now hundreds of thousands of Belarusians have participated in many protests. So, one can write 20 police reports for each of them, roughly speaking. The father had participated in 6 more meetings after his release. And what are his prospects? I don’t know.”

In addition to the administrative police reports, Shyla faces a more serious problem – the criminal case.

“As far as I knew, at the time on 22 August, a criminal case had been opened in Salihorsk because police officers had been beaten. Those detained because of the meetings, at least my father, were warned that their procedural status might be changed. At the end of the first term of detention, people from the Prosecutor’s office called us and wanted to come with a search,” adds Ivan. “Mom said she wouldn’t open the door for them and they can break down the door if they want. It ended there.”

The family doesn’t have a lawyer yet, but they’re looking for one.

“Just to go to my father and at least find out how the trial went. And whether there are some new protocols. My father will spend a total of 40 days in the toilet: this room cannot be called a jail cell,” Ivan is sure. In addition, it is forty days of detention in a row for a person who is 57 years old.