Former police major arrested for taking part in small businessmen rally

A leader of the movement of individual entrepreneurs, a former police major Syarhei Parsyukevich is arrested. This decision has been taken today by the prosecutor of Maskouski district of Minsk. Syarhei Parsyukevich was called to testify in the case brought up against him.

Despite of the fact that the entrepreneur had come to the prosecutor’s office voluntarily, the prosecutor’s office had decided to detain Syarhei Parsyukevich for 3 days. After this term Parsyukevich is to be released, or charges should be presented to him, or the prosecutor’s office can extend arrest up to 10 days.

As we have informed, Syarhei Parsyukevich was detained in Vitsebsk on January 13 and taken to Minsk. He was charged with participation in an unsanctioned protest rally of market vendors held in Minsk on January 10. Syarhei was taken to the court and sentenced to a15 days of arrest. While serving the sentence he was brutally beaten up by one of the workers of the prison in Akrestsin Street, who later charged the arrested with an assault.

He was beaten brutally by an officer of the detention center on 21 January. “If I hadn’t broken loose and cried for help, they would have killed me,” former police major Parsyukevich said to the Charter’97 press center.

The chairman of the Council of individual entrepreneurs of “Smalenski” market in Vitsebsk Syarhei Parsyukevich is a retired police major. He retired in 2004 in the position of the head of judicial and criminalistic department. After that he started his business activities.