Viktar Sirenka – a medical doctor that lets special services kidnap his patients

Ulazdimir Niakliaeu, a candidate to the President of Belarus who was beaten up by the special services, ended up at the night of December 19-December 20 with a head and brain injury in the intensive care department of Minsk Medical Emergency Hospital.

A squad of unknown persons dressed as civilians burst into the hospital. Seven of those put Niakliaeu onto the floor on a hospital blanket and started dragging him away from the hospital.

His wife, Volha Niakliaeva, who had been present there at the moment, was locked in a room by unidentified persons, with a militia officer put against her.

Mrs. Niakliaeva: “There was a nurse at the patient’s room all the time, and a Chief doctor came by constantly. At around  0.20 the nurse said that Niakliaeu needs to rest, she turned the lights off and went away. A couple of minutes before there was another hospital worker who approached her and they spoke quietly. Some minutes after, 7 people broke into a hospital room in the dark”.

Alena Tankachova, a human rights defender, was present during this action and asked a Chief doctor, Viktar Sirenka, to call the militia in order to stop unlawful acts of the unknown persons and to record the fact of the forced transportation of an ill person from the hospital.

Viktar Sirenka

 Viktar Sirenka said that this issue “can be discussed tomorrow”.

Ms. Tankachova: “Volha Niakliaeva was pressed back against the wall and started calling for help. Niakliaeu was pulled down from his bed, literally wrapped into the blanket and dragged over the floor. Volha was locked in a patient’s room, at first there were two people watching her, but then they called for a duty militia officer who “protects the order” in the hospital. Those people unknown ordered a militia officer to “keep an eye on the woman until she calms down” and then to let her go”.

Medical release records issued by the Chief doctor contained no evidence of the head and brain injury  -- a diagnosis that was made previously. Volha Niakliaeva was not allowed to make photocopy of documents that formed the grounds for hospitalization of Niakliaeu earlier. 

The next day Chief doctor Viktar Sirenka spoke at the official Belarusian Television channel stating that his patient “left the hospital” being in a good state of health.

Below follows the text of the Belarusian Telegraph Agency dispatch (originally in Russian)

December 21, Minsk / Vladimir Matveev – BELTA. Vladimir Nekliaev had no injuries that could threaten his life. This information was given to journalists by Viktor Sirenko, Chief doctor of Minsk City Clinical Medical Emergency Hospital, a BELTA correspondent reports.  

"Vladimir Nekliaev was brought to our hospital on the night of December 19. We detected facial soft tissues bruises and hematoma of the periorbital area. There were no other injuries detected,” -- said the Chief doctor.

According to his words, a full-scale examination including computed tomography, ultrasonic and laboratory examination was conducted, thus confirming no trauma that could threaten Vladimir Nekliaev’s life. “The patient and his wife accompanying him were informed that there was no need to stay hospitalized. We offered to transfer him home using the ambulance vehicle, -- said Viktor Sirenko, -- but Nekliaev stayed in hospital for another hour and a half, and then left.”

A militia troop that arrived to the Medical Emergency Hospital upon the fourth call of the human rights defender and the wife, did not start investigating the case. They, however, threatened Volha Niakliaeva with criminal responsibility for “a counterfeited report”.

Meanwhile human rights activists and journalists that tried to reach the hospital by phone were told that at 0.40 Niakliaeu “signed out from the hospital and left it on his own”.

When Niakliaeu was being hospitalized, Viktar Sirenka recommended that he remained at the intensive care room under medical supervision for another 12 hours. What were the forces that made him give the patient away to unknown kidnappers dressed in black?

Horridness of Dr. Sirenka’s act is aggravated by the fact that for another week afterwards (information as of December 26) neither the nearest people, nor the lawyer were allowed to visit Niakliaeu who was taken into the KGB detention facility.

Sviatlana Kurs