Many beaten people were brought to Frunzenski District Police Department of Minsk

Human rights activists from the Human Rights Center Viasna told Euroradio about detentions in the Frunzenski district of Minsk.

Where are you now and what do you see?

We are in the Frunzenski district court. We are trying to figure out what happened to the people who ere brutally detained yesterday evening in Minsk. In particular, people were detained for nothing in the Frunzenski district. People were walking with children and friends, it was rather late, about 9. They saw their friend stopped to talk, but a policeman came to them and said they were not allowed to stop there. They answered they would talk a little and then go.

Two minutes later a bus appeared and people were detained very brutally – they were loaded in the bus upside down. One person was attacked by seven men in mufti. They were taken away in the bus… As of now, we have no information about some people. We cannot get any information. We cannot reach anyone, officials do not say anything or say there are no detained. We were waiting in the Frunzenski district police department until 2 am; we were asking where the detained people were. They said they did not have anyone in the police department, everyone had been taken to a detention facility in Akrestsin Street. But five minutes later we saw people in the windows and we knew it was the ones detained at the Frunzenskaya metro station… They deceive us every moment. It’s very difficult to make them say at least one word.

You say guys were brutally packed into a bus. Do you have information about exact facts of beating?

Yes, we have. We came to court today at 5 am. After two hours, the first shipment, as they called it, of detained people appeared. A guy was in a very bad condition. He has traces of beating on his face, his T-shirt was in blood and law enforcement officers ordered to take it off, because it drew attention, as they said. He was dirty and he was shaking… He could not walk normally. An ambulance was called. It arrived 15 minutes later, doctors look at him and took him away. Guys said after leaving the police department that two men, young and old, felt bad during the night, an emergency ambulance was called and they were taken from the department.

Do you have information whether this was committed by unknown men in mufti from unknown bodies and whether officers of the Frunzenski district police department have relation to them?

These were unknown men in mufti. They arrived in a minibus, which looked like a tourist bus. It has registration plates and did not seem suspicious. 15 well-built men in mufti ran out of it. Today, while we were waiting for any information, we tried to talk to a local police officer. I asked him: ‘A gang appeared in the city. They have buses; they beat people and take them in unknown directions, why don’t you do anything?’ He was silent for five minutes and then said he would not answer.

There’s information that Aleh Haidukevich, son of the leader of the Liberal Party Siarhei Haidukevich, is the chief of the Frunzenski district police department. Siarhei Haidukevich said defending his son that Aleh is very clever, intelligent and professional person. Based on what you have seen and heard from police officers, can you conclude that this police department is headed by an intelligent and professional person?

It’s difficult to say. We cannot reach them. They are like zombies. They do not answer questions or react to anything. Yesterday, when men in mufti were detaining people, I managed to ask policeman in uniform standing nearby. I ran up to him waving my hands and asked: ‘Are you blind? Look, they are detaining people!’ He turned to me and said: ‘Yes, I am blind.” Both men in mufti and policemen are not adequate. They are zombies. They will do what they are ordered.