“Rescuers gave me a blanket and took me to the opposite riverbank”

TUT.BY found a man who jumped into the Svislach river during the dispersal of protests

6 September 2020, 23:52 | Snezhana Inanets, TUT.BY

In Minsk on Sunday, people dived into the water to get away from government security forces who broke up the peaceful protests near the Palace of Independence. Some people dived into the Svislach river and were picked up by the lifeboat of the Society for Development of Water Transport and Passenger Safety (OSVOD). TUT.BY tracked down one of the protesters and he told us what happened.

In the photo is Aleksander Poplavskiy and his girlfriend. He is 26 years old and tells us that he participated in the protests. They went to the barrier built by security forces near the Palace of Independence and “stood there for about 40 minutes”.

I saw a guy being pushed to the police cordon by people in military camouflage. I thought I heard some blows. There were also people in plainclothes – but I realized that they were also government security forces.

When the protesters began to disperse, the arrests began. Uniformed men emerged from behind the barriers and moved towards the protesters.

At first, we linked arms, but we were very few in number, about 12. I saw the officers moving towards us with shields. When people started running, we joined them. Then, we saw prisoner transport vehicles (PTVs) on the opposite side.

Aleksander says that people ran away from the security forces to the river. They noticed a lifeboat and two protesters got on it.

The lifeboat began to sail off. A man jumped into the water – he was pulled out. I also jumped in and swam, and rescuers pulled me out. Then I saw those who remained on the riverside. They were beaten. Some people also jumped into the water. There were four of us on the lifeboat. I saw about nine people in the water, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more. People jumped because they understood that they would be arrested otherwise.

He says that several dozens of strangers in plainclothes and police officers hurried after the protesters. PTVs were parked along Pobediteley Avenue.

They did not speak to one another on the lifeboat, Aleksander explains. He did not even realize that there were rescuers from the OSVOD. People chilled by the cold were given rug blankets and taken to the opposite riverbank.

“I walked, soaking wet, to a car, asked for a mobile phone and called my girlfriend.”

Aleksander adds that he is outraged by the situation in the country.

“There is lawlessness, lies and intimidation.”

According to TUT.BY, the rescuers who had helped people were taken to the Central District Police Department. There, they are explaining what happened. It is not yet known whether they have been detained.