Belarusian police set to share its practices with entire region (Video)

It has been stated by representatives of the Belarusian Interior Ministry at the workshop presenting essential elements of democratic policing.

The event was held on September 16-17 by the Interior Ministry of Belarus in cooperation with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and financed by governments of Germany and Sweden. It is informed that representatives of law-enforcing agencies and NGOs from Belarus, Russia, Moldova, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, experts from Poland, Sweden and Belgium, as well as workers of the Strategic Police Matters Unit of the OSCE Secretariat (SPMU) and ODIHR/OSCE are to take part in the seminar, the website of “European Belarus” informs.

An agreement to hold this seminar was achieved in February during the visit to our country of Kevin Carty, the Senior Police Adviser to the OSCE Secretary General.

The OSCE seminar started exactly on the day of crackdown on the peaceful opposition rally dedicated to the 1oth anniversary of disappearance of Vice Speaker of the Supreme Soviet of Belarus Viktar Hanchar and a public leader Anatol Krasouski. People gathered at the square with portraits of abducted politicians and candles. 35 participants were arrested. Many of them were brutally beaten by Minsk riot policemen right in the building of the police department of Tsentralny district of Minsk.

It is hard to say how the workshop on democratic policing influenced the brutal crackdown on the rally of solidarity and torturing of protesters in the police department of Tsentralny district of Minsk, but Belarusian policemen are eager to introduce the Belarusian experience of crackdown on peaceful protests to other countries.

“The regional format of the seminar would allow to position the Belarusian practices in public order management, including the experience of holding mass events, and would contribute to its promotion in the countries that are taking part in the seminar,” the website of the Interior Ministry of Belarus informs.

Alyaksandr Stsepanenka, an opposition activist, who was beaten up during a crackdown on a solidarity rally. These are the practices Belarusian police is going to share with other countries