Babruisk blogger is threatened with a criminal case
The
monitoring service of the Belarusian Association of Journalists found
about an incident that took place on 4 September in Babruisk with the
participation of a well-known local blogger Aleh Zhalnou.
He
uploaded to his blog audio and video recordings of violations of the
traffic rules.
On 4 September Mr. Zhalnou and his son made
a video recording of the wrong parking of cars on the pavement.
According to Mr. Zhalnou, the cars belonged to officers of the
department of drug control, located in the same building.
The
blogger made an oral statement about this to
inspector of the traffic police Aliaksandr Butouski, who also drove
on the pavement. The inspector said that his
working day was over
and called by phone other police
officers.
The policement who arrived at the place (Aliaksandr
Aliaksandrau, Vital Paduta and Yauhen Serashtanau) tried to prohibit
the Zhalnous to shoot the video, and then detained them, charging
with a violation of paragraph 35 of the traffic rules (groundless
hindrance to the movement of a vehicle).
The
both detainees were dragged into the building with the use of
physical violence and then knocked down. After this they were
handcuffed and searched, after which some things were confiscated,
including telephones, a video camera, a smart phone,
bank cards, work ID and the passports.
Three
hours after it the detainees were released after giving explanations
to an investigator. The things were returned the following evening,
but he video cassette and the memory card of the smart phone with the
events near the office of the traffic police weren't returned.
Mr.
Zhalnou says that the road police threatened to imprison him within
the framework of a criminal case, for alleged insubordination and
infliction of bodily injures to a policeman.
According to Mr.
Zhalnou, the detention was so brutal that later an ambulance had to
be called. After the release he went to the polyclinic to be examined
by a neurologist, who registered an injury of a
saphenous nerve on his right hand. He also
passed a forensic examination and submitted
applications to the
prosecutor and to the
Minister of the Interior.
Earlier the
blogger twice registered violations committed by officers of law
enforcement agencies. They thrice tried to punish him within the
framework of administrative cases. The Babruisk court twice ruled in
favor of Mr. Zhalnou, and during the third time the policemen refused
from their pretensions on their own.