Officers with police epaulets celebrated Police Day by beating up youth
- 5.03.2008, 10:34
Two young activists detained in a trolley-bus yesterday for disseminating stickers with a call to celebrate the jubilee Freedom Day on March 25, were released from the police department of Tsentralny district of Minsk without a report being drawn up or explanations written. The third one was beaten up and is kept in custody. The trial over Maksim Serhejts is to start today at 10 a.m. in the court of Tsentralny district of Minsk.
One of the detained activists Alyaksei Shloma underlined that actions of the policemen included the whole bunch of administrative and criminal violations including “beating up Maksim, threats to all of us, insults, use of foul language”. Besides, printed materials were seized from the activists without any reports. The printed materials included printed Internet articles, and an address with signatures of Belarusian citizens for Belarus joining the EU, the United Civil party internet-site informs.
As we have already informed, a passenger of the trolley-bus No.12 rushed to a policeman who entered the trolley-bus saying that the young people pasted a sticker. As said by Vitaly Stazharau, he overheard that the passenger was an internal troops’ officer, Alyaksei Paulouski.
Women in the trolleybus started to make the zealous officers ashamed: “Let the guys go! What have they done?” But a policeman called a police tour of duty to arrive to the next trolley-bus stop, and the guys were detained, though they had no stickers with them.
The tour of duty was composed of policemen Andrei Andrusevich, Uladzimir Hubar and Vital Prakapenka
The detained were taken to the police department of Tsentralny district and kept there for 3 hours. The interrogation was accompanied by humiliating treatment, which directly falls within the Administrative and Criminal Codes. Only Maksim was beaten up. As testified by Alyaksei Shloma, Syarheets put up legal requirements: to file a report and introduce themselves. And it caused the rage of Lukashenka’s law-enforcers. Or was it a way to celebrate Police Day for them? Is it a holiday when you cannot beat up someone?
As said by the detained, policemen were well-dressed, mostly in suits and white shirts, and not in uniform. Many of them were drunk (however, those who interrogated and were beating up Maksim, were sober).
Alyaksei and Vitaly told that Maksim was beaten on the head and in the chest brutally. Shloma, who knows Serhejts long ago, said that he has heart problems, and he was taken bad. He demanded to call in an ambulance, however he received several blows in response.
Finally the report was drawn up, but only against Maksim Serhejts. Others were released, but warned that they shouldn’t attend the open court, otherwise they would be arrested there. Vilaty Stazharau, the chairman of Minsk branch of the Young Democrats, was said in particular that no one of their organization members should attend the court, otherwise he would pay dearly for that.