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Already some time before criminal investigator Andrei Ostapovich fled his country, he was one of many Belarusians who were fed up with the country’s dictator, Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994. At that time, Andrei, now from 27 years old, he was only one year old and he has nothing. I remember having lived under another leader.
– In the presidential elections on August 9, I was in favor of Svyatlana Tsichanouskaja. Our leaders demanded that we vote in advance on Lukashenko. But I refused, says Andrei Ostapovich when I met him in Warsaw.
It is one of the Belarusians who has taken refuge in the neighboring country during the popular uprising of the last two months against Lukashenko. We meet at the Belarus Solidarity Center, a resonating room two steps up on a prewar property in central Warsaw. Here are some of the more than 100 refugees from the dictatorship in Belarus.
Andrej Ostapovitjs polis-id in Belarus
Photo: Private
His title is Captain and Principal Investigator on the State Investigative Committee, roughly equivalent to the United States FBI. It is a body that investigates serious crimes, but also corruption and misconduct within the police. During his career, Andrei Ostapovich has been involved primarily in violent crime.
On every Sunday after the elections, massive protests were held in Minsk. No one doubted that Lukashenko, who had declared himself the winner, had cheated on his way to electoral victory. The protesters were convinced that Tsichanouskaja was the real winner. OMON’s infamous riot police launched a violent attack on peaceful protesters.
– I was on duty and they called me to the hospital and I saw a 16-year-old boy broken in bed who was unconscious and had a broken jaw, says Andrej Ostapovich.
The boy could not be contacted, but Andrei Ostapovich began to question the witnesses. It turned out that the 16-year-old had been taken to the local police station, where he was put in a cell in the basement. The police stuck a rubber baton in his mouth and demanded that he sing the OMON anthem. When he refused, they began to torture him.
Then, it took several days before the boy arrived at the hospital and received care.
Andrei Ostapovich’s position on the commission of inquiry gives him the authority to, unlike ordinary police officers, press charges. And here it was about really serious violent crimes, with the police involved to the highest degree.
Andrei Ostapovich is in Warsaw after a dramatic escape from Minsk.
Photo: Michael Winiarski
He wanted to prosecute, but his superiors refused. Instead, the abused child was accused of participating in an illegal demonstration.
Then Andrei Ostapovich wrote a “report”, a request for resignation, to management. He stated that he could no longer remain silent, that he did not want to get involved in covering up criminal activity and turn a blind eye to the abuse of peaceful citizens who only want to express their opinion. He distanced himself from Lukashenko and also asked: “Where do these sadists come from who rape girls, break skulls and other things that I have seen?”
When he woke up the next day, he realized that he had taken a great risk.
– I understood that I was no longer safe in Belarus. So I went to Moscow.
But once there, he received a tip that the Belarusian security services knew where he was. It must move west. The first target was Latvia, but the Russian border police did not let it pass. Then he went to Pskov, but there he noticed that it was shaded. That same night, he was visited by Russian officials, taken to the police station and detained for 24 hours.
– They were going to extradite me to Belarus. But the thing came out in the media, so they said they would release me.
The surprises were not over. As he walked towards the door, they threw themselves on him again, chained him with a 30-kilo weight, put a sack on his head and locked him in a car. At that moment he feared the worst; like he’s being drowned in a stream.
After a few hours driving It turned out that it was in a forest area within Belarus. And he got his possessions back. He was then able to call and announce that he had been released, but at the same moment a Belarusian police car approached him from the other side.
– I dropped my phone and ran into the woods.
They spent five days of hardship in the forest until he managed to cross the border into Poland. You don’t want to reveal your escape route. More than that, he had to traverse swamps, swim through rivers, and overcome fear of wolves. Once a large boar jumped on him.
Finally, in early September, arrived in Warsaw, badly taken. There he received help from the Solidarity Center with housing and medical care.
– I can’t go back yet. It is not possible to know if we will win, even if Lukashenko is already losing power. It will be a long process.
