The chief engineer of the MZKT about his detention, his years at SIZO, his friends and his family

We meet the chief engineer of the MZKT in the courtyard of a brick skyscraper in Zavodskoy district. In the nineties, he and other factory workers themselves built this house with the help of their own.

"In almost every apartment, there are bricks I've laid" – says Andrei Albertovich. In a light shirt and pants, he looks merry and cool, as if he had not been in the SIZO.

It is true that in an interview, he speaks quite cautiously, avoiding many moments. The sentence has not yet entered into force: it is the last day it can be challenged. If this right is exercised, the dispute may begin again.

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"The first time in the cell, I said to myself," Now they will solve the problem, the door will open and I will go home "

– Andrei Albertovich, what does it look like – when an innocent man is taken to the police? I would probably be indignant, burst out and try to resist. Perhaps he would have even knocked on the walls of this cell in the detention center …

– So what? What would he give?

– I do not know, but it's an injustice.

– Your reaction is understandable, but what is the result? The law is such today that if you are suspected and the investigator and the prosecutor 's office have solved the problem, that is enough for your detention. You may know that you are innocent, but you can not do anything. You will always be brought to the cell and put in jail. If you resist, they will also use force. It's a coercive machine, you can not get out of it anywhere. From there, we can say only one thing: either you break down and you do not understand, or you understand in what situation you are and you start to fight.

– After all, was the detention a surprise for you? Or were there prerequisites, factory checks, other signals, vigilance?

– Absolutely unexpected situation. There was a complete shock. The first time in the cell, I thought: "Well, now understand it, the door will open and I will go home." But it turned out that not at all.

"The days went by …"

– Not that the days are past.

– You understood that they would not let you out and we did not know how long to sit. Have you had depression or hopelessness?

– What has helped me most is the support and help of my family and the understanding of people. From the first days, the factory team sent a petition asking at least to change the measure of restraint. Beneath were signed 2800 people.

I have not been sent back from the factory yet, with me extended the contract three times. At one of the meetings, a factory worker was interrogated and the judge asked him: "And what is your attitude towards the former chief engineer?" He has answered: "Why the ex? He is now the chief engineer. " That's why I really want to say thank you to all the people who have supported me for so long. It gave strength and faith.

– The first sentenced court: 8 years in prison. Were you scandalized at that time or were there other emotions?

– Of course, I was indignant. But the sentence that has been spoken, to a certain extent, may have helped me. I realized what was happening.

I do not mean that the people who made the decision are illiterate or that it is a trend. I would like to believe that after all, this is not the case.

I only know one thing: in these things, it depends a lot on people, and a person is not a car, she can be wrong.

– On February 5th, the acquittal is read, you are released in the hearing room. Everyone vented, rejoice, but here they take you back. At least, you were told what the problem was, what was happening?

– Nobody said anything to me then. Law enforcement officials approached me and announced that I was suspected of committing a crime, pursuant to the same Part 3 of Section 430. They also took me to the investigation committee. They presented the paper, the decision. There was the same investigator who led the previous case. That says a lot. At least, it seems to me that this should not be the case.

– When you announced the fourth acquittal, everyone was shocked, even your lawyer, and you took it one way or another calmly. Why

– I was convinced that would be the case. In first year, while I was at SIZO, I told my cell mates: "I go out anyway, I do not see myself in the colony and I do not understand why." I hope that eventually everything will end.

"There is no more left, as I wrote to my wife," than to bite the teeth and bear "

– All Belarusians have not been remanded. What does it look like? Do you like movies like "Gentlemen of Fortune"?

– During this time I visited different cameras. What they show and what they really are are two big differences. It is not a summer camp, it is a prison. You are limited and do not belong to you anymore. I had the habit of thinking that I was in control of my destiny. And there – no.

I do not want to talk about living conditions, because, as practice shows, it has negative consequences for those who sit on it. There are different people, good and bad.

– You went into the camera and there was a man who killed his wife, for example. How did you build relationships?

– Meanwhile, of course, I had to sit down with different people: with the vice president of the Academy of Sciences, twice the winner of the award, and with a man who was then 25 years old of prison for murder. Many guys have adopted the article "drug" 328.

In the cell, you are in a situation where you can not just open the door and leave. Had to build relationships. If I could not live and work with different people, I probably would not have become a chief engineer. But with these people that I do not understand internally and that I do not accept, I tried not to communicate. The essential being there, it is not necessary to create conflict situations.

You must understand that today the situation of life is such and that there is no way out. As I wrote to my wife, it only remains to "bite your teeth and bear."

I was helped by what I decided myself: I can take everything and go home. That was the goal. And if there is a goal, you will eventually reach it.

"But you did not know how long it would take."

– A saying goes to SIZO: "The prison is not a grave". Sooner or later, everything ends. I've always wanted only one thing: there is a law – I want it by law, nothing more. Thank goodness, it worked.

– As far as I know, in a detention center more severe than in a colony. Walk less, no dates and so on. Is it true?

– There are walks, but it is a closed courtyard, bounded by walls and topped with a trellis. What kind of walk, come in fresh air. Of course, from this point of view at SIZO, it is more difficult than in the colony. Therefore, in many states, the day of stay in the SIZO is counted for half a day or two of the colony.

– And in the isolator literally, do you sit down? Or can you lie down, walk, do exercises, exercises?

– There are different rooms, places where you can walk, but in others not. There is a certain fashion. At six o'clock in the morning, get up at ten o'clock in the evening. In the meantime, you are not allowed to sleep, lie down, etc. Sit or stand.

– Fighting is useless? Do not follow the rules, do not obey, etc.

– You can only in law. For the sake of God, you can write and complain, and no matter what else. You can not take a poster and go to rebel. Do not obey, nor do you have the right because there are some pressure levers.

In general, SIZO, in my opinion, should be perceived as an isolation of society. If the investigation fears that you are escaping, there are modern technical means. Well, wear a bracelet on the person, which will indicate where he is. You do not even have to bear the cost of its upkeep.

Of course, if it's a murderer or someone who's dangerous to society, who can hurt people, he has to be isolated. But today, isolation has become a fact of pressure on a person who has been placed in a detention center. Many different people are brought to the Senate – and that's it, a person will be morally broken all his life and depressed.

– Your wife was saying in the interviews that another pressure factor in the SIZO is permission to go out with someone.

– By law, dating can give as much as you want. They are solved by the authority that manages your case. If it's an investigator, then an investigator, if the case is in the prosecutor's office, then the prosecutor, if he's in court, then the judge. But the decision to give or not give, again, depends specifically on the person. And it is used not from the point of view of justice, but from the point of view of the pressure exerted on a person. You do what we want – we'll give you a date, otherwise you will not do it.

When they took me in 2015, my wife wanted to take me in her arms. It was not given with the words: "Then he'll be back in half an hour." But the next time I saw my wife in a year and seven months. I only had a meeting with her after reading the documents relating to the first case.

The only method of communication is the letters. You leave the camera in an open envelope, the censorship is pbaded, and the letter that is intended for you is already opened and stamped on the check. Someone writing, someone not writing, someone is closing. I decided myself to write every day when I could write. He wrote to his wife five times a week, children less often. For me, it was like communicating with a person and becoming a kind of ritual. I wrote short letters. In the letter, you will not write many things that you say personally.

– It's clear censorship.

– yes There is nothing to write because there are no events. The letters are short: it's alive and has gone nowhere.

"In the comments under the articles, people write that, they say, pack your bags and leave, so no one will leave you alone"

– You said that during the time spent at SIZO, they read 300 to 400 books. What did you read?

– You know, someone likes detectives, someone – novels, someone – something else. Some read the GULAG archipelago. I read Soljenitsyn always on the run, but, in my opinion, these matters do not concern the detention center. There and his sorrow enough. I like fiction. Now, there are many modern fiction writers who write quite well. Many things from old fiction have become a reality. You read modern fiction and there are new ideas already. I think that humanity will come to them.

But the most important thing is, in my opinion, an easy reading, it allows you to escape the state in which you find yourself. Because the thoughts in my head are still spinning. If you do not mind your head with something else, it is very difficult to be there purely physical. You can play games. Chess, checkers, dominoes and backgammon are allowed in SIZO. But cards are forbidden.

– Have you thought about some of your projects left at the factory? Did you know MZKT?

– In the detention center, there is a TV, you can watch the transfer, the news. In addition, the woman wrote me a newspaper. Of course, I looked at what was in the world and how. I saw our cars parade. Thank goodness, what we did was not lost, the business is now working normally.

Now I am on vacation. And if the punishment comes into effect, and I hope so, I'll go to work. In the comments under the articles, people write that, they say, pack your bags and leave, nobody will leave you alone. I'm not going anywhere. I want them to give me peace to live and work.

– Do you have the same relationship with your friends? Or are there those who have stopped communicating?

– When you get there, you immediately understand who your true friend is and who is not. But you must understand the people who stay here. Because the fear of the state in the human being is normal. You thought you were very close friends of some people and you realize that it is not quite that.

You know, I always wrote to my wife: there are more good people. Therefore, there is faith and hope that everything will be fine.

– Is it possible to say that you came to SIZO one person and that you left the other? Has your vision of the world changed?

– I would not say that I became insensitive or soulless, no. Maybe now I'm going to behave differently.

– You had no thoughts, for what, why is it all in your life? After such situations, many people begin to get angry and offended by life.

– Thoughts are different, but offend against someone, get angry, quit, go away – no, it will not happen.

– Have you ever talked to your lawyer, Vera Oreshko?

– No, we have not met yet. As far as I know, she is always looked after. In his situation, I will say one thing: he who says that his business is not related to mine will say nonsense. To start a criminal case against a professional whose reputation is irreproachable … I will certainly meet later when something happens. I really hope that a fair decision will be taken on his case.

– You said that now on vacation. Already gone to work? How were you met there?

– Yes, I went to work, I talked with the manager, with people, I left. Everyone I met was very happy, congratulated for their release and kissed.

– Has Minsk changed a lot for you in four and a half years?

– Many things finished. The money has changed. I was detained when the old money was, I have never seen the new live.

"I think an accident happened, let's say it"

– Already used or still unusual? Do not dream of prison and all the rest?

– And you know, I sleep normally, I do not dream. Before the announcement of the verdict, I could not sleep, an hour and a half – and that was all. And the house is the house. I changed quite quickly. If a person has not broken morally or physically, getting used to ordinary life takes a few days. If you look now at the four years I've spent there, it's impossible to remember a particular day. They became very gray one by one.

– Do not you think that all this – the SIZO and the courts – was not with you? As if you were shown a movie.

– Not at all. You know, any manager who goes to this position should fully understand that this involves a great deal of responsibility. God forbid that any accident will occur – it will be the responsibility of the chief engineer and the general manager. A person must be mentally prepared for these situations. So, I think that an accident happened, let's say. Well, being offended by this accident does not make sense. Life goes on, life goes on, and I want everything to be much further.

– raising granddaughters?

– Great-grandchildren, I will not stop at the grandchildren. I am 57 years old. But the man as much as he feels. I personally feel a maximum of 30 years. Honestly, thank God, there are some. Health – we'll see. You know, as they say, "the soldier at the front does not get sick". When the body is stressed, it looks for reserves. Although the pressure is rising.

The detention center doctor said to me: "Your heart needs to be at home." I say: "So help me, let me go."

– By the way, how was the meeting with your granddaughters? They did not see their grandfather for a very long time, and the youngest was born at all when you were at SIZO.

– The elders remember me, the meeting went well. But with the youngest, we met for the first time. She is now a little over a year and a half old. But nothing, we went to the park, walked – and all is well.

– Many families, faced with such a situation, collapse. Your wife, on the contrary, has been fighting for you all this time and has not abandoned for so many years. What's the secret?

– You see, if people have found the halves, it means that it will continue. I could not give him any other support than what I wrote in the letters: "Do not lose hope, wait." What's she doing for me … What comments can there be? This is my wife, my family, thank God she is so normal and strong. I am very grateful to my family.

– What are your plans for the future? Back to work, go to the sea or something else?

– I do not want to plan anything before the entry into force of the sentence. We'll see later. If the management is satisfied with my application, I will be happy to come back because all the professional life is related to the MWTP. There were also hard times at the factory, when many people left, I did not go anywhere at that time. And now, I do not want it either.

Now, the bottom line is that everything is finished. So that I can live in peace without looking around me.

The family is also shaking after each call, she does not want to let me go long. Yesterday I went to the store, my wife asked quickly. He said worried. But it will pbad. I want to hope and believe that there will be no more, they will leave me alone and let me live in peace.

Lawyers in the service "Onliner. Services "

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