Krychau police found no violations in the activities of the head of ideological department

Publisher of the newspaper "Volny Horad" Uladzimir Kudrautsau (pictured) received a response to his appeal to the prosecutor of the Krychau district concerning illegal actions of the head of the department for ideology, culture and youth affairs of the Krychau District Executive Committee, Maryna Maksimava.

The head of the Krychau District Police Department S. Chupryn informed Mr. Kudrautsau thatno evidence of the acts of theft and abuse of power by Maryna Maksimava was discovered and therefore it was decided not to institute criminal proceedings.

Krychau police have been carrying out an inspection on the appeal of Uladzimir Kudrautsau for more than four months. At the beginning they were trying to pressurize Mr. Kudrautsau, threatening to institute criminal proceedings against him for alleged defamation against the head of the ideological department.

In the refusal to intitiate the criminal proceedings Senior Lieutenant A. Dziameshka wrote that abuse on the part of one of the former subordinates of Maryna Maksimava was found and the police would hold an additional inspection on these facts.

The journalists of “Volny Horad” disagree with the conclusions of the police inspection. They beleve that employees of the Krychau DPD demonstrated a formal approach to theinspection without considering in detail the facts which were set forth in Mr. Kudrautsau's appeal.

The publisher of the newspaper filed his statement to the Krychau District Prosecutor's Office back in November 2014 during the court confrontation between journalists of the newspaper and the head of the ideological department of the executive committee. In hisappeal Uladzimir Kudrautsau informed the prosecutor that the events in the villages and by the department for ideology, culture and youth affairs are conducted formally and the reports about them are written correspondingly, whereas real concerts and contests are held very seldom. Referring to the words of a newspaper's reader, Mr. Kudrautsau stated that employees of village clubs and libraries have to organize such events at their own expense. They are forced to do so by the heads of the heads of the appropriate institutions and Maryna Maksimava, knowing about these facts, just closes her eyes to this. Moreover, Mr. Kudrautsau drew facts of abuse of power by the official.

His appeal was forwarded to the Krychau DPD for further consideration and an appropriate inspection. However, the senior detective of the division for combating economic crime Dziameshka, who was charged with the inspection, tried to to threaten Mr. Kudrautsau with bringing a criminal case for allegedly defaming Maryna Maksimava. The inspection started only after the repeated appeal of Uladzimir Kudrautsau to the Krychau District Prosecutor's Office in December 2014 with the requrest to take action to ensure the conduct of an objective and unbiased
inspection by the division for combating economic crime and also to protect him from the hints and threats by Aliaksandr Dziameshka.

Let us remind that in September 2014 the head of the department for ideology, culture and youth affairs of the Krychau DEC Maryna Maksimava filed a lawsuit to the Krychau District Court in which she asked the court to order the "Volny Horad" to refute the information discrediting her honour, dignity and business reputation, namely, that she knew the ideological work no better than a swine knew the kinds of oranges, by publishing an appropriate article. She also asked the court do recover from the defendant a compensation for moral damages in the amount of 10 million rubles and the court fee of 450,000 rubles paid by her. Maryna Maksimava claimed that the publication of the article "In the wrong chair?" brought her anguish, she lost weight four kilos, had to go to the hospital and take the medicine, as she got a high blood pressure. Later the plaintiff changed her demands – she refused from the idea of publishing a refutation article and concentrated only on the monetary claims to the newspaper and its staff.

December 8, Judge of the Krychau District Court Alena Azaranka ruled for recovering a compensation for the moral damage from the publisher of the newspaper Uladzimir Kudrautsau, its editor Siarhei Niarouny and journalist Mikalai Hedzi in the amount of 7 million roubles, the state fee in the amount of 450,000 roubles and the legal costs associated to the participating of a defense lawyer in the amount of 600,000 roubles.