Andrey Ozharovsky: In Belarus there is the absurd like in Kafka's novels

If Belarus and Russia are really in the union, then deportation of citizens of one country to another one is illegal, Russian physicist Andrey Ozharovsky, expelled from Minsk, said in his interview to the EuroBelarus Information Service.

If Belarus and Russia are really in the union, then deportation of citizens of one country to another one is illegal, Russian physicist Andrey Ozharovsky, expelled from Minsk, said in his interview to the EuroBelarus Information Service.

The scientist who actively participates in the antinuclear movement was detained on July 18th when he was carrying a petition about the inadmissibility of building the Ostrovets atomic power station to the Embassy of the Russian Federation. He was accused of foul language and arrested for 10 days. Then, even before the termination of this term, Andrey Ozharovsky was immediately deported from the country and forbidden to enter the territory of the republic within ten years.

- What do you think of the Belarusan authorities’ behavior in relation to you?

- Everything that has occurred with me is a continuation of the practice shown by the Belarusan authorities concerning the whole civil society and environmental movement in particular. I am not the first person who has suffered like this; arrests and searches did happen earlier as well... All this means that the supporters of atomic energetics in Belarus have no other arguments, but intimidation, violence, and reprisals. The situation just testifies that the authorities are afraid of a fair dialogue and discussion of the questions, which are raised by the environmental movement. Therefore, they resort to violence.

- In what conditions were you in gaol? Was there any special attention to you from the administration?

- In the Minsk-based “Okrestina” Offenders Isolation Center, where I was kept, the conditions are bad. But, strangely enough, I did not expect either anything bad, or good, after all - it is not a hotel. It was good that the personnel tried not to humiliate prisoners whenever possible. We were in their hands; it was possible to do a slew of all humiliating actions, but they did not do it.

However, there were substantive problems, too. While I was there, Belarus’ legislation was infringed at least twice. First, none of the arrested was allowed to have the obligatory everyday one-hour walk in the open air. I did not see the sun for ten days - the cell looked to the north and there were no rays at all.

Second, there were no separate berths. There were common couches. And there had to be no more than four persons - but one night there were seven people. For two nights, near to me, there was an addict who himself shouted to jailers that he is sick of hepatitis and AIDS. Probably, such people should be contained separately from the healthy.

Well, the food. It is paid by a prisoner, but this food, probably, would not be called food even in the worst canteens. For 10 days there was not a single fresh vegetable, not a piece of carrot, no cabbage. I do not speak about fruit at all! This is unhealthy food; if one stays in such conditions for more than 10 days, there can be really serious harm to one’s health. And grocery parcels are forbidden. But my friends found a way - it is possible to bring liquids. And they brought me fresh juice; it helped me very much.

Of course, it is the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus that is obliged to solve it. I do not believe that if the country has found 10 billion dollars for the atomic power station building, it cannot find 100,000 dollars to construct a yard for prisoners. Besides, it is needed to be done according to the law.

For me as a Russian it is perfectly clear that the Okrestina Center should be closed right now. Because it does not correspond to the Belarusan legislation. I do understand that the authorities, probably, use it and artificially create such problems for prisoners so that to continue intimidating civil society. I do not see any other explanation why the state does not observe the laws on prisoners.

- Did the Russian authorities try to help you?

- First of all, I am grateful for the help to my colleagues from the environmental movement – both Belarusan and Russian ones. I know that they sent directly to the Okrestina Center many support letters and telegrams. However, at that time, they were not given to me …

As for the Russian authorities, I demanded the presence of the consul since the very moment I was accused, a person has this right, and a possibility to contact my lawyer. The prison employees did not provide me with this possibility. The majority of my pretensions are to these employees. It is their provocation; their perjurers then acted in court and declared that I had broken the public order. Absolute lie!

Unfortunately, I cannot prove I am innocent. To walk with a working dictaphone? With a video recorder? So that to be sure there would be no such provocations? - It is unreal. To my horror, I have realized that any citizen in Belarus can be arrested at any moment because of such false charges, escorted, and slandered in court.

Against me during the process there were two persons from a regiment of special purpose of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. An absurd situation like in Kafka's novels - two police officers can arrest, accuse a person, and then oust him/her from the country for ten years! Of course, it is lawlessness…

There was a representative of the Russian Embassy in court, but he cannot interfere… his role was minimal - not to admit new provocations. I expected that the authorities would think up something, for example, to plant some forbidden substances. In general, it could be done even when the representative of the Embassy was there. But the Russian authorities’ interest was important. Besides, the environmental organization Bellona, with which I cooperate, sent a special appeal to the Russian authorities.

By the way, only through the representative of the Embassy during the sentence announcement in court did I manage to transfer a message to my family. It is one more horror - there is no right for a phone call in Belarus at all! In my case - even for a foreigner, even for an inhabitant of the Union State. Imagine - these people say that we have a Union State!? If it is true, then my deportation is illegal. The fact of my and other Russians’ deportation proves that the Union State is total rubbish! It is fiction; it does not exist. If Belarus and Russia are in the union, then to expel a Russian from Minsk is the same to do the same with him/her from Bryansk. It is impossible. It is clear that the union is a fake.

Russian physicist Andrey Ozharovsky plans to continue his work in the Belarusan antinuclear campaign. The scientist says his deportation will only stimulate society’s struggle against the atomic power station building in Ostrovets.

- Are you going to appeal against your deportation from Belarus?

- I expected that after the termination of my arrest there would be another provocation. What is important is that in the Okrestina I was visited by a representative of the Embassy, who got sure that I was safe and alive, that I had no bruises, and that I could survive my term of arrest up to the end. His presence was very important for me, and I asked the employee of the Embassy to be present during my release so that, if something happened, he could testify that when I left the Okrestina I did not swear and did not break the order.

Even the documents, which were shown to me, prove that my deportation is a continuation of all the same lie. According to the document, which I have in my hands, when I was in custody, the question of my deportation was being considered. Can you imagine that? When I was being escorted to the train station, I was given to sign the notice, "We inform you that the Moscowski District Office of Internal Affairs of the city of Minsk, in the interests of the public order, will consider the question of your deportation. The consideration of this question is appointed on July 28th at 8:00 pm". This paper was signed by a person temporarily fulfilling the duties of the head of the MDOIA. I was given to sign this notice obviously after 8:00 pm - at 8:57 pm I was in the train.

I still have the ticket to Russia - it was bought with my money, they took 70 euros from my money. Though I already had a ticket from Belarus for July 31^st; I just had to come back from Poland... After all, I was in your country in transit because I was going together with my daughter to go through Belarus to Gdansk. But as soon as I could pass a message home, I advised my daughter to refuse a trip as she could also suffer somehow. My daughter is a student and activist of the antinuclear movement, while Belarus is a zone of high danger to the people who oppose atomic energetics…

Well, on the ticket, which the Belarusan authorities bought for my money, there is a sale date - July, 27th, 4:00 pm. That is, it was bought before the decision of my deportation was made. It means that really the decision was accepted not on 28^th, but in advance. I was specially deprived of my legal right to be present during this consideration, to provide my explanations, and to show my witnesses. Meanwhile, I do have such a right - it is written even in the notice! Therefore, my deportation is illegal. In any other country of the world, except Belarus, of course, such a decision would be cancelled.

Now I will ask my lawyer to submit a protest. But I do not believe that the authorities will admit these obvious infringements.

- Are you going to address the international instances concerning such infringements?

- Yes, I think, it makes sense to do so. After all, there is already a huge list of foreigners, not only Russians, who are banned entrance on the territory of Belarus. And I will try to appeal against the decisions of the Belarusan authorities. By the way, the decision on my arrest for ten days has not come into force till now, because I appealed against it in the Minsk City Court. And my deportation has deprived me of my right to be present during the acceptance of the decision on my destiny. Probably, the authorities are very much afraid of the Belarusan antinuclear campaign if they resort to such measures …

Besides, I will direct a personal complaint to Geneva; my case just falls under the definition of a wanton detention in the Convention on human rights. It will be one more kopeck in the "coin box" of infringements of the Belarusan authorities against civil society. The police officers detained me for no reason, because they just wanted to do so! It concerns, basically, all the four arrested persons. Tatiana Novikova, Irina Sukhiy, and Mikhail Matskevich were arrested in the same way only because they intended to submit a petition to the Russian Embassy.

- Are you going to draw the Russian authorities’ attention to your case?

- I do not see here any prospect. Naturally, I will inform the competent bodies of my country about the persons who have committed this provocation against me. Gennady Molosh and Vitaly Sushchits from the regiment of the militia of special purpose. In the Embassy, I was also asked to inform what methods the Belarusan authorities use against Russians. I, of course, do not hope that Moscow will be so consecutive and serious in the protection of the rights of citizens as Europe. I do not want at all these members of the militia to be forbidden entrance on the territory of the Russian Federation - the purpose of my appeal will be quite different. But the participants of this provocation have made meanness, and for that they should bear, at least, some moral responsibility. They have to be ashamed.

- After everything that has happened with you, are you going to continue your support of the environmental movement in Belarus?

- Certainly! There is the Internet, other means of dialogue, and I will participate in the work of the Belarusan antinuclear campaign from a distance. I am an expert, physicist. I will continue researches, to write articles. Certainly, it is a pity that it will not be possible to participate personally in meetings with my colleagues in Belarus, but after all they can be organized in other countries as well. It seems to me, my deportation will not stop, but on the contrary - will stimulate society’s antinuclear struggle, including that against this absurd project of "Rosatom" on the Belarusan territory. Moreover, I am convinced that I will be able to return to Belarus much earlier than in 10 years. Certainly, in your country there will be political changes, and these unreasonable decisions against civil activists will be cancelled.