"Detention of journalists was justified"
The Investigative Committee refused to
bring a criminal case on the fact of the detention of members of the
Belarusian Association of Journalists.
Lola Buryjeva,
Viachaslau Piashko, Siarhei Kruchkou, Mikalai Petrushenka and Siarhei
Vazniak intended to cover the meeting of a member of Smaliavichy
District Council Yahor Lebiadka with electors, but were detained by
officers Smaliavichy District Police Department headed by the
chairman of the law protection and prophylaxis department Andrei
Martysiuk.
The Investigative Committee didn't find any corpus
delicti in the actions of the police.
"We filed our
application to the prosecutor's office and the Investigative
Committee. The both of them refused to bring a criminal case. Of
course, we can continue, but I don't see any sense in it: we know how
our state system works – if you apply to a higher institution, your
appeal is passed to a subordinate one. We applied to the regional
police department, but have received no answer," commented Yahor
Lebiadok.
The journalists were detained on 24 December 2012
and released in some time. According to them, the behavior of the
police and the questions they asked by far exceeded the framework of
"identification". BAJ demands that MP and Interior Minister
Ihar Shunevich discriminate in the situation. The Ministry of
Internal Affairs answered that the detention of the journalists was
justified.