Homel pro-dem activists demand to institute criminal proceedings for unlawful detention

Homel opposition activist Uladzimir Katsora filed today a statement to the Regional Prosecutor’s Office and head of the internal affairs department of Homel regional executive committee to report on a criminal offense allegedly committed by police officers. In his statement, the politician says that on September 22 traffic police stopped a private minibus with delegates of a national conference for the creation of a coalition "For Honest and Fair Elections for the Sake of a Better Life."

Policemen initially said the reason for the detention was that the vehicle was "similar" to the one who was involved in a car accident. After the minibus driver was forced to follow the policemen to the police station in Rechytsa, the "version" of police officers changed, as there reportedly was a need to fingerprint the driver.

In the end, the policemen started pushing unfounded claims to the plate of the vehicle body, and then, after about three hours after the forced detention, released the driver without any charges, and without drafting any legal documents.

"As a result of unreasonable obstruction by the police officers, the delegates were unable to participate in the work of the national conference in Minsk, thus their actions constitute a criminal offense under Article 194 of the Criminal Code, namely preventing the legitimate activities of NGOs or interference with the their legitimate activities, which resulted in a considerable breach of their rights and legal interests,” says the statement. “On behalf of the delegates to the national conference for the creation of a coalition “For Honest and Fair Elections for the Sake of a Better Life” I declare that in this particular case your subordinates were used in politically-motivated investigative activities.”

The politician further says that the delegates demand to investigate the facts, and identify the official who issued an order to persecute and detain the delegates. Mr. Katsora also urges the Prosecutor and the police chiefs to open a criminal case against the official, as well as against the police officers mentioned in the statement.