Prosecutor’s office sees no law violations in beating of opposition activists

Maskouski district prosecutor’s office of Minsk answered the complaint of the activists of the civil campaign European Belarus concerning the unlawful actions of the police on 16 July 2009.

On 16 July the European Belarus activists held an action of solidarity with political prisoners near the pre-trial prison in Valadarski Street in Minsk. Six participants of the picket were detained by riot police. As jeans-by.com reminds, the detainees were insulted and beaten in the police bus and at the police station.

The same day Yauhen Afnahel, Aleh Ladutska and Maxim Viniarski filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office of Maskouski district of Minsk.

The check-up of the facts stated in the complaint was conducted by the assistant prosecutor of A.Kuchuhurny and its results were approved by the deputy prosecutor K.Mazouka.

The complaint was turned down. The prosecutor’s office refused to bring a criminal case against the riot police. ‘During the check-up there was found no evidence of unlawful actions of the police officers. That’s why you are refused in bringing a criminal case on the basis of Article 29, part 2 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Process Code, because of the absence of corpus delicti in the actions of the police officers,’ reads the answer of the prosecutor’s office.

At the same time, as a result of this check-up the surnames of the police officers who conducted the detentions were revealed. These were the officers of the 5th company R.Chachko, I.Belash and A.Hil. The policemen also gave explanations concerning the facts that were stated in the complaint. They refused using any physical violence during the detentions.

‘The unlawful actions of the police officers stated after we demanded that they introduced themselves and told the explained us the reasons for the detention,’ commented Aleh Ladutska. ‘The run-arounds civil activists receive from the prosecutor’s offices are outrageous. Riot police almost always use physical violence, threats and insults while detaining participants of peaceful actions of the opposition. Police officers behave inadequately even in the presence of journalists, as it happened on 9 and 16 September. If the prosecutor’s office fails to notice these evident facts, it is either blind or is an accomplice in these law violations.’