231 named suspects in new “rioting” case
Protester detained in Minsk. November 1, 2020. Photo: tut.by
The Investigative Committee says 231 people detained after yesterday’s protest in Minsk are suspects in a criminal case of “breaching public order.”
Some 310 protesters were detained by the police after they took to the streets of Minsk to demand an end to police violence. The peaceful demonstration was again met with excessive violence and non-lethal weapons. Several protesters were injured by rubber bullets.
The detainees faced “illegal protesting” charges and some of them were sentenced to short prison terms, with more trials to follow.
Meanwhile, the authorities claimed the protest was violent and constituted “breach of public order”, a criminally punishable offense in Belarus, as it allegedly disrupted the work of public transport and resulted in “clear disobedience to the demands of the authorities.”
Media reports and videos of the protest, however, prove the opposite. The demonstration was peaceful and it were law enforcement officers who used weapons, blocked roads and provoked the protesters, who never responded with violence.
The new criminal case involves three journalists working with the Belsat TV channel. Dzmitry Soltan, Dzmitry Krauchuk and Artsiom Bahaslauski were detained during the protest, despite valid IDs.
An under-aged eyewitness who was detained together with Dzmitry Soltan and later released says the journalist was badly beaten during detention and in the police van.
“They hit him with his own camera, right in his head, and the camera was broken,” he said.
