Suspects in case of Belarusian-language are neither charged, nor released

At about 7 p.m. on August 14, the persons who had been detained in the case of Belarusian-language graffiti, were to have been either released or presented charges. However, neither of has happened.

As previously reported by the Human Rights Center "Viasna", 5 guys were brutally arrested three days ago on suspicion of involvement in three criminal cases: making the Belarusian-language graffiti "Belarus must be Belarusian" and "Revolution of consciousness is already in progress …", and smearing with paint a social billboard with an image of police officers on it.

Later, Yaraslau Ulyanenkau and a citizen of Russia Pavel were released under a written recognizance not to leave, Maksim Pekarski and Vadzim Zharomski are still held in a temporary detention facility and Viachaslau Kasinerau is guarded in a hospital, where he was placed with a double fracture of the jaw. The detainees don't give any testimonies. Today their lawyers have signed the undertaking not to disclose the circumstances of the investigation.

According to p. 3, Art. 108 of the Criminal Procedure Code, "the detention of a person suspected of committing a crime may not last more than 72 hours after the actual detention, after which the detainee must be released from custody or a measure of restraint, stipulated by the Code, must be applied to him".

Three days have passed, but the boys remain in custody. Apparently, the Investigative Committee nevertheless took advantage of the opportunity afforded by Article. 118 CCP and chose a measure of restraint:

"If there are grounds and in the circumstances specified in Art. 107 and 108 of the Code, a preventive measure may be applied to a suspect. In such cases, charges must be presented not later than ten days after the application of preventive measures, and if the suspect was arrested and then
a restraint was applied to him – within the same period from the moment of actual detention. If charges aren't brought within this period, the prosecuting authority shall immediately cancel the measure of restraint. "

In fact, the youngsters will be held in custody for seven more days, after which the Investigative Committee will either indict or release the children.

A representative of the Investigative Committee Yuliya Hancharova made an official statement on these events:

"These persons are suspected of damaging a billboard with an image of law enforcement officials belonging to an individual entrepreneur, as a result of which the latter incurred material damage in the amount of not less than 2 million rubles.

In addition, they are suspected in making graffiti and drawings on a number of facilities in different parts of the city, propagating social violence and disrespecting the commonly accepted norms of behavior. In particular, it concerns the painting of a silhouette of a man throwing a bottle with Molotov cocktail. The investigation discriminates in all circumstances of these deeds. The suspects are interrogated. The motives and aims of the unlawful acts are being investigated.

On Monday, the Human Rights Center "Viasna" will make an official statement on the situation.