Just over a week ago, Ukraine-based Dota 2 organization B8 faced a dangerous situation when one of its players, Oleg “LastHero” Demidovich, was arrested by law enforcement in Minsk, Belarus. And now, Demidovich has revealed more information about the situation.
Demidovich was reportedly arrested and beaten along with more than 50 people who were out protesting against the government and president Alexander Lukashenko. B8’s player reportedly wasn’t protesting but was just trying to meet up with some friends in Victory Square and was roped into the larger group in the area when police started to round them up.
In the latest episode of B8’s podcast, Demidovich talked about his experience in being detained, beaten, and imprisoned for more than three days. This includes several instances of the police asking for him to unlock his phone, which he denied.
“They just zip-tied our hands and threw us face-first in a police vehicle,” Demidovich said (via translation by WIN.gg). “I got kicked in the face once. They asked me to unlock my phone and asked for the password. I told them I wasn’t giving it to them. That’s why they started hitting me I think.”
He detailed how he and the other protestors were beaten while pressed against a wall as the law enforcement officers asked them all questions.
“They put us in zip ties again, they were so tight that your hands would go numb,” Demidovich said. “Then it turned out they just put us against the wall and we were like that for about three hours in the heat, they beat us again with batons on the back and neck several times. They asked us questions, like who we voted for.”
Demidovich was released from custody sometime on Aug. 13, just a day after B8 made the information about his detainment public and asked for anyone with details about his situation to email the team.
Demidovich said he’s still recovering physically but is mentally fine after being released. B8 will continue playing with a stand-in for the foreseeable future until their offlaner is ready to return to Dota 2.
