Cell #18

On August 9, 2020, presidential elections were held in Belarus. The incumbent president, in office since 1994, was once again declared the winner. Thousands of Belarusian citizens took to the streets in protest in the belief that the elections were rigged. The state responded with violence and mass arrests. The prisons were overcrowded. For almost a week, 36 women were locked up in the 118 sq. ft prison cell with hardly any food, water, medicine, clothing, hygiene products, or air. After their release, we managed to talk to eleven of them. This is their story.