Activists record ‘torture victims’ screams’ from Belarus prison

Activists in Belarus have recorded the ‘screams of torture victims’ coming from inside a Minsk prison on the 4th day of anti-regime protests since a rigged election on Sunday. 

Protesters have been fighting running battles with police, using stones and fireworks, and being hit with rubber bullets and tear gas on the streets of Minsk. They accuse strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko of stealing 80 per cent of the election vote to win a sixth term in power. 

In a video uploaded to Twitter by euroradio.fm, showing the outside of Akrestina prison in Minsk, screams – allegedly those of tortured protesters – can be heard crying out in the night.  

‘You can hear screams of the detained in the Akrestina torture house in Minsk, filmed by @euroradio,’ a retweet by Ukrainian journalist Maksym Eristavi reads. 

‘Residents of the surrounding buildings say those continue through the night. Thousands remain in cells like these across Belarus. This is some Hague Tribunal s**t. #FreeBelarus’.

According to the BBC, a body of evidence is growing that police are brutalising protesters and passersby, both on the streets and inside the prisons demonstrators are being taken once seized.  

Activists in Belarus have recorded the ‘screams of torture victims’ coming from inside a Minsk prison on the 5th day of anti-regime protests since a rigged election on Sunday

Police officers detain a man during a protest against the results of Belarusian presidential election, outside the Belarusian embassy in Moscow, Russia yesterday

Police officers detain a man during a protest against the results of Belarusian presidential election, outside the Belarusian embassy in Moscow, Russia yesterday

A woman fights with a police officer as the other police officers detain an opposition supporter protesting the election results as protesters encounter aggressive police tactics in the capital of Minsk, Belarus, Tuesday

A woman fights with a police officer as the other police officers detain an opposition supporter protesting the election results as protesters encounter aggressive police tactics in the capital of Minsk, Belarus, Tuesday

Belarusian law enforcement officers escort a participant in a protest against the results of the 2020 Belarusian presidential election. Mass protests erupted in major cities across Belarus in the evening of August 9

Belarusian law enforcement officers escort a participant in a protest against the results of the 2020 Belarusian presidential election. Mass protests erupted in major cities across Belarus in the evening of August 9

Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled since 1994, casts his vote in the election

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya casts her vote during polling on Sunday

Alexander Lukashenko, 65, (left) and opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, 37 (right) had both claimed victory after the Belarus presidential election 

Nikita Telizhenko of the Russian Znak.com news website, spent three days inside a Minsk prison.

He wrote a detailed account of his time inside once released, describing people laying on top of each other, surrounded in blood and human waste. 

He alleges prisoners were kept in forced positions and prohibited from using the toilet.  

Telizhenko added that he was seriously injured prisoners being denied medical treatment, and despite their broken and bruised bodies, being beaten even more by guards.  

Detainees have included passersby and journalists, not actively involved in the protests, the BBC reported.  

The UN human rights chief on Wednesday condemned the violent crackdown following the disputed presidential election in Belarus and called for the immediate release of unlawfully detained protesters.

Police surround a protester during a mass rally following the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, late Tuesday

Police surround a protester during a mass rally following the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, late Tuesday

Belarus police club a protester during a protest in Minsk last night where thousands raged at president Alexander Lukashenko in the wake of a disputed election on 10 August

Belarus police club a protester during a protest in Minsk last night where thousands raged at president Alexander Lukashenko in the wake of a disputed election on 10 August

A line of police block a road while tear gas wafts in the background during mass protests in Minsk which saw thousands of people turn out to demonstrate on Tuesday

A line of police block a road while tear gas wafts in the background during mass protests in Minsk which saw thousands of people turn out to demonstrate on Tuesday

A police officer prepares to aim his weapon during the protests in the capital of Belarus last night after authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko claimed a sixth term

A police officer prepares to aim his weapon during the protests in the capital of Belarus last night after authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko claimed a sixth term

Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, decried the reported police use of rubber bullets, water cannon and stun grenades on demonstrators, and said their grievances must be heard.

‘I remind the Belarusian authorities that the use of force during protests should always be exceptional and a measure of last resort, clearly differentiating between any violent individuals and peaceful protesters, against whom force should not be used,’ she said in a statement.

‘People have the right to speak up and express dissent, even more in the context of elections, when democratic freedoms should be upheld, not suppressed.’

Protests broke out after authorities claimed President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, won 80 percent of the vote in Sunday’s polls.

Police in Belarus said Wednesday they had shot at protesters with live ammunition in a third night of violence, while more than 6,000 people have been detained overall. 

Another sinister video shows how detained young protesters against Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko were forced to vow never again to make ‘revolution’ against the strongman.

The five men and two women were held after joining thousands on the streets objecting to alleged vote rigging in the recent presidential election.

The sickening TV show trial was evidently aimed at stopping democratic protest against a poll widely seen as being skewed against main challenger Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

The five men and two women were held after joining thousands on the streets objecting to alleged vote rigging in the recent presidential election

The five men and two women were held after joining thousands on the streets objecting to alleged vote rigging in the recent presidential election

The five men and two women were held after joining thousands on the streets objecting to alleged vote rigging in the recent presidential election

The five men and two women were held after joining thousands on the streets objecting to alleged vote rigging in the recent presidential election

The five men and two women were held after joining thousands on the streets objecting to alleged vote rigging in the recent presidential election

The five men and two women were held after joining thousands on the streets objecting to alleged vote rigging in the recent presidential election

Some of the demonstrators – one with a balaclava on his shoulder – appear to have been beaten before being forced onto state TV by the brutal KGB secret police.

At first they are shown with their faces bowed to a wall, at least two handcuffed.

They were asked: ‘Are you going to do revolution again?’

The men with fear in their eyes all reply they will not take part in protests.

One said: ‘Never in our life, ever.’

One woman stares back but is not humiliated into promising never to protest.

The other slightly nods her head in the negative.

More than 1,000 were held by Soviet-era farm official Lukashenko’s ruthless law enforcement after election officials claimed he won a landslide to extend his 26 year rule.

Tsikhanouskaya left Belarus soon after the poll, evidently under pressure from the authorities.

The UN today expressed dismay over the situation in capital Minsk. A spokesman for the secretary-general said: ‘We are very concerned about the latest reports of violence – and escalating violence – that we’ve seen during the protests.

‘We’ve seen some very serious, including fatal, injuries, as well as reports of mass detentions and excessive use of force by security forces.’

Lukashenko told protesters to ‘get a job’ and claimed those on the streets were mainly ‘unemployed’ and ‘people with criminal records’.

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