Confinement cell to be supplied with draughts, to satisfy demands of Malady Front members

Hrodna confinement cell has no room for a library. However, the administration has promised to buy draughts next year. It will be done to satisfy the demands of Malady Front members. A Malady Front member Yauhen Skrabutan turned to the administration of Hrodna District Department of the Interior with this idea. The guy spent 5 days in the confinement cell together with the other detained and had to protect his book from camera mates to occupy himself with something.

Yaugen Skrabutan: “I had a book on me. It was the third volume by Karatkevich. Everyone kept sitting and witching me because they also wanted to read something. I could not share the book with them because I was reading it. So they were all waiting for me to have finished it because I promised to give it to someone else after that”.

The guy sent a letter to the head of the confinement cell and suggested that they should accept books collected by activists to create a library. But he got a refusal. The head of Hrodna confinement cell Andrei Skuratau informed ERB that they simply had no room to realize the idea of the Malady Front member.

Andrei Skuratau: “The thing is we do not have room for a library. It was not planned so … Actually room is the only thing we need for it”.

The head of the confinement cell says that every detained person has the right to have any books “from the outside”.

Andrei Skuratau: “Nothing is forbidden – books, newspapers, magazines. Any detained can receive them from the outside”.

You can have draughts and chess on you. But Yauhen Skrabutan doubts it is possible to predict a detention and bring something to be occupied with in advance.

Yauhen Skrabutan: “If you are suddenly detained you cannot think about such things in advance. You have no time to return home to fetch a book”.

Having received a refusal to organize a library, Hordna activists bought 5 sets of draughts and brought them to the confinement cell. However, they were not accepted.

Yauhen Skrabutan: “The director thanked us but said they could not accept them because they may be understood in the wrong way. So they refused”.

Only one set was given to the head of Hrodna affiliate of the UCP Yuras Istomin who was kept in the confinement cell at that moment.

The head of Hrodna confinement cell Andrei Skuratau has promised ERB that they will buy draughts next year and the detained will be able to play it.

Andrei Skuratau: “We will buy draughts, it is not that expensive. It was not mentioned in the budget, we started working not so long ago, and it is a new confinement cell”.