Sergei Bigel: “I was beaten; they wanted to burn hair on my head”

#Vilnius #Belarus #repressions #Long Live Belarus!

This article was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting

In Belarus, Sergei worked almost all his life as an entrepreneur. In an attempt to refer the appeal with a protest against the violence against civilians to the local council, he and his friends were arrested by riot police, beaten and tortured.
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Sergei, what would you say to those who believe that Lukashenka is an excellent president?

For those Lithuanians, who believe that we have an uprising there for nothing and are trying to destroy our country, I propose to swap places. Let me live in your home in Lithuania, and you live in mine in Belarus. I think that no later than in a year, you will be running away from Belarus with no pants, just to run here faster so as not to stay there. That I guarantee you.
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Did they continue to beat you and your friends in the minivan?

And in the van, it was… Me, well, two sat on top of me, and maybe they were not so comfortable in position to hit me, but still. One took the knuckles of his hand and began pushing those against my head – “ruffling” me, whilst the other one said: “burn it, burn it”. I cannot see anything, but I hear the flicker of the lighter, thinking that a bit more and they will actually burn my hair. I managed, by surprise, to pull out my hand, as it was pressed from behind, and cover my head with it, but one of them takes one of my fingers and begins breaking it, pulling my nail even, saying, “you animal, why are you covering up?”. How could I not cover up if they wish to burn my hair?
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Видео Sergei Bigel: “I was beaten; they wanted to burn hair on my head” канала InTheBALTIC