Police open probe into alleged misuse of violence against football fans in Baranavičy

On May 23, human rights activist Siarhei Housha received a response from the Baranavičy Interdistrict Prosecutor’s Office to his complaint about alleged beating of football fans before on May 3.

The official reply signed by Prosecutor Dziarabin says that the authorities will not check the legality of actions by police officers who used excessive force against football fans, forwarding the human rights activist’s complaint to the Deputy Head of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Brest Regional Executive Committee, which has already launched a probe into the incident.

“It is the Prosecutor’s Office that should oversee compliance with the law in the investigation of offenses, but prosecutors refuse to review our complaints and forward them to other government agencies. The response from the Baranavičy prosecutor suggests that it will be the police themselves who will consider a complaint against the illegal actions of police officers during a clash with football fans. I am sure that if the Prosecutor’s Office had investigated the incident, the investigation would have been more unbiased and fair,” says Sairhei Housha.

The human rights activist is convinced that it were complaints from the victims and their parents, as well as those by human rights defenders that forced Brest police chiefs take action against riot policemen.