Court Justified Valiery Shchukin
According to RFE/RL
Minsk Tsentralny Borough Court stopped the administrative case against Valiery Shchukin because of absence of corpus delicti. Mr. Shchukin was detained in the evening of 30 May in Conquerors Avenue (former Masherau Avenue) during an action of protest against the renaming of the avenue.
The trial lasted for about two hours. Shchukin was charged with hooliganism and disobedience to the police. The riot squad policemen Liepiesh and Vasilkou who participated in it as witnesses stated they had detained Shchukin in the evening of 30 May during the protest action in former Masherau Avenue. They said he used four-letter words, blocked the traffic and behaved antisocially on the whole. Besides, they said he refused to go drive with them to the police station, that’s why they had to use force to him.
Valiery Shchukin answered he didn’t touch anyone and simply stood in the avenue. Several persons in plain clothes came up to him. They tore Masherau’s portraits he was holding and demanded from him to get into their car. Valiery Shchukin refused to do it, because he didn’t know those people and they didn’t introduce themselves. They forcibly took him to Minsk Tsentralny Borough Board of Internal Affairs, where the duty policemen drew reports for hooliganism and disobedience to the police.
After Valiery Shchukin familiarized with the reports and signed them, the police copied there the testimonies given by the riot squad policemen. Shchukin composed complained against this law violation to procurator’s office.
In the court the “police witnesses” gave contradictory and blurred testimonies. As a result the judge Aliaksiei Bychko ruled to stop the case against Shchukin because of absence of corpus delicti.
Valiery Shchukin said:
-- It is one of the rare cases when judge was guided by the law. I also think my appeal to the procurator’s office contributed to it.
Shchukin’s defense lawyer Paviel Sapielka adds:
-- It was the only legal decision which the court could make on this case.
