Maksim Vinyarski: “Riot militiamen hit me in chest several times”

Activist of the civil campaign “European Belarus” was detained and beaten at a peaceful rally “For Independence!”

Maksim Vinyarski told in an interview to the Charter’97 press center that he was detained by riot militiamen in mufti after the rally and guarded to the Tsentralny district militia department of Minsk.

“The rally ended, people began to go away,” Maksim Vinyarski says. “I went to Victory square. Three men in mufti followed me. When I reached the Palace of Trade Unions, these three pushed me into a blue Gazel car by force. They didn’t explain anything. I was ordered to hold my arms behind head and then they began to threaten me. I was hit in chest several times. Militiamen tried to fingerprint me in the Tsentralny district militia department, but I refused.”

“Behaviour of the authorities steps over all bounds,” Maksim Vinyarski says. “I am surprised that a peaceful action was dispersed by so many riot militiamen. The Belarusian authorities are repressive at all levels. They try to intimidate people by beaten girls and dispersing rallies. But this gives a motivation for expressing our solidarity and struggling for independence and democracy.”