THE PERSON SEVERELY BEATEN DURING VIOLENT DISPERSAL OF THE PEACEFUL RALLY IS ULADZIMIR SHADENKA, 65, FROM VITEBSK DISTRICT.
On March 25 the Belarusian special services dispersed the peaceful rally, many people were beaten. Nevertheless, administrations of Minsk hospitals refuse to admit that they have treated the people who suffered during the opposition rally. However, there is enough evidence of that.
Only 5 days after the rally we managed to find out the name of a person who had been severely beaten by riot police. He is Uladzimir Shadenka, 65, from Drazhna village of Vitebsk district. He told RFE/RL that he had accidentally seen his picture in the Internet – he lies on the asphalt, blood-stained, with his face white, with no signs of life. There were different names attached to the picture, but not his.
The pensioner remembered the events of that day: “I was walking together with the others. Then the riot police blocked our way and the column stopped. I left the column and went to the side. I wanted to see what kind of guys serve in the riot police. That was the moment when they started moving – with the shields in front. One of them pushed me. I tried to push him back, on the shield. Then the other one attacked me. Very soon I got a blow on the head – probably, somebody ran up from behind and hit me on the head. I fell on the ground. I didn’t start a fight with them. Then the other guys with the shields attacked me and started to beat me: I have bruises on my arms and legs. Then at some moment I lost consciousness and don’t remember anything”.
Uladzimir Shadenka was taken to city hospital # 4 with head injury. There the doctors put in the stitches and forced him to leave the hospital in 3 hours. They wrote in the papers that Mr. Shadenka was drunk. This is what most exasperates the pensioner – he drove down to Minsk in his own car and was planning to return the same very day. He has papers which show that he has been treated in Minsk city hospital # 4. However, the administration of the hospital disputes this fact.
The situation with Siarhei Atroshchanka remains unclear. The pictures of the person, blood-stained and with no signs of life spread all over the world. Alexander Kazulin’s spokesperson stated: according to her information which was being checked at the moment, Siarhei Atroshchanka, beaten by riot police on March 25, died in Minsk city hospital #9. The hospital does not recognize the fact. However, Atroshchanka can’t be found in any of the hospitals of the city. The person disappeared, and the official authorities conceal the fact”.
