Belarus is the last European country with the death penalty.It’s not hard for a ordinary citizen of Belarus to end up behind bars. All you have to do is take part in a rally or picket and that’s it, you’re detained, packed into a paddy wagon, and taken to SIZO №1, the jail on Volodarskogo Street in central Minsk.
The “Volodarka” or the Pishchalov castle, as it’s otherwise known, is an old jail, built in the time of Russian emperor Alexander I. Famous figures such as Józef Piłsudski, Felix Dzerzhinsky, Belarusian writer Yakub Kolas, Boris Savinkov, both a terrorist and a man of letters, and others have spent time here.
I recently visited the Volodarka, and spoke to former prisoners (and employee) so that they may share their stories.
