Correspondent of Komsomolskaya Pravda v Belorussii Still in Hospital
On 2 March in Minsk the police beat the journalist of Komsomolskaya Pravda v Belorussii Aleh Uhlevich who took photos of the persons in plain clothes who detained relatives and activists of the candidate to the presidential position Aliaksandr Kazulin. The plain clothes beat him - he was taken to Minsk hospital #9 with broken nose and operated there.
In his interview to RFE/RL Aleh Ulevich said he still felt dizzy and it was hard for him to remember who had visited him. The journalist thinks the beating wasn’t occasional. ‘I think they did it purposefully, because I took out my journalist certificate and shouted to those people I was from press, and then received a hard blow in the head and lost conscience. In the bus they tried to take away my camera, but I didn’t let them do it. There I felt very bad and lost much blood,’ - said Mr Ulevich.
According to the journalists, in the hospital he was visited by the police from Minsk Maskouski Borough Board of Internal Affairs, the press-centers of Minsk City Executive Committee and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They apologized to him. Aleh Uhlevich has already composed a statement on the fact of the beating and the police stated they would search for the persons guilty.
Aleh’s sister, Volha Ulevich is the deputy chair of Komsomolskaya Pravda v Belorussii. He looks after his brother in the hospital. ‘I believe it was demonstration of force. As a result, now I have much less courage to write about what is happening in the country. There are only two weeks left to the election, but we will continue writing anyway because it is our profession. Only few newspapers are left in Belarus. I am a bit afraid, because I am responsible for the health of our staff. I don’t want to see any of them in the hospital,’ - said Volha Ulevich.
Now Volha is taking the necessary measures for finding the guilty. ‘Aleh says it was videoed. Now it matters only whether the authorities want to punish the guilty,’ - said Ms Ulevich.
