A film in the colors of the Ukrainian flag on the rear wiper of a vehicle - this is the reason why the Israeli citizen was arrested in Minsk and held in custody for 28 days in deplorable conditions.
Now that she has been deported from Belarus to Lithuania, her story can be told.
Irina Kapilova (49), a senior marketing manager who lives in Minsk, hung a ribbon in the colors of the Ukrainian national flag on the second day of the Russian invasion.
In terms of Belarusian law, there is no offense, and according to Irina, her act has only gained positive reactions to other customs (the vast majority of Berras oppose the war and support Ukraine;
On the other hand, the Lukashenko regime allowed Russia to use Belarus territory for the invasion.
However, in early May, Kapilova was suddenly summoned to the police on the grounds that her personal vehicle was suspected of being stolen.
"I didn't do anything illegal, so I thought they would warn me, a maximum would give a fine," she says in a conversation with "Israel Today," "but the researcher told me without blinking that a light blue-yellow movie today is like a white-white movie in a 2020. Since there is no such offense, he wrote a protocol for a riot in his office that was not and was not created, and sent me to a cold cell at the station. "
Irina's composition (the film on the wiper).
The drivers on the road actually expressed support, Photo: None
The next day, a trial was held in Kapilova's case.
"In an online hearing, a police officer, who was supposed to have witnessed the incident, appeared and sat down from the page to read the details of my 'riot' in the investigator's office," Capilova said, claiming, "I have never seen him before."
The judge sent Kapilova to 15 days in detention at a facility in the infamous Ockerstein Alley, and the nightmare of the Israeli resident of Minsk intensified.
Sleep next to the bathroom
"We were 18 women in an 8-square-meter cell, without bedding and without enough beds," she says.
I, I slept near the toilet corner-a bullet that is not isolated from the rest of the cell but in the wall to the shoulder height. "Unstampiers did not provide elementary groceries of personal hygiene, and according to Capilova, even put (" intentionally "). .
When she finished wanting the 15 days, Kapilova received her personal belongings and was taken to the detention facility - where two policemen were waiting for her with a protocol.
"It was 19:00 and in the minutes it was already written that that day at 21:30 I rioted elsewhere in Minsk. I told them there was no way I was signing it, but they picked me up at the police station anyway and held me for three days without trial because even the judge demanded them "I corrected the protocol. So they corrected and I was re-sent to the Ockerstein facility."
According to her, all the time, her partner, her partner and her family, approached the Israeli Embassy in Minsk for aid.
"They were constantly told to call later, or promised to come back to them, but in practice I do not know what will be done, if at all," she complains.
She claims she was transferred to a more comfortable cell four days before her release.
"Maybe it was thanks to the embassy. I do not know."
Belarusian police arrest demonstrator against 2020 election results, Photo: API
Today Kapilova is staying in Lithuania.
The reason: On the day of the release, it was ordered to leave Belarus without a right to return to it for five years - all in violation of the law.
"I did not receive any assistance, which is very disappointing," she says of the Israeli embassy.
No travel warning was issued
This is not the first time that Israeli citizens have been arrested in Belarus in the past two years.
During the civil protest against the election fraud, Alexander Froman and Artium Froman were arrested and beaten, and both also had allegations against the embassy.
In December, following the involvement of President Herzog, attorney Maya Reiten-Stoll, who was caught at Minsk airport with cannabis and held for two months, was released.
In her case, a prison sentence was commuted to a fine.
Despite the potential arbitrariness of the arrests, Israel did not issue a travel warning to the country (except for a request not to reach its southern border, near Ukraine, during the war).
The Foreign Ministry's response will be provided when received.
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