Colonel Paludzen believes there is nothing to apologize for

Brutal dispersal of peaceful opposition rallies is called “constructive communication” by Belarusian police.

The Belarusian police are set to become more democratic. It has been stated by deputy minister of internal affairs, chief of public security police colonel Yauhen Paludzen, when answering a question of “Narodnaya Volya” during a workshop “Democratic policing” held in the Interior Affairs Academy.

Before the workshop the website of the Internal Affairs Ministry informed: “The main aim of the event is to set to plan concrete actions to implement advanced methods of policing from the EU in Belarus, in the states of Eastern Europe and Transcaucasian countries. They are mentioned in the manual “Democratic policing” published by the OSCE.

It is widely known that Belarusian police is famous for its exceptional “democratism”.

An accident with one of Minsk vocational students will go down in history. During a clear-up operation near the state department store he was detained. In court policemen stated that he was using foul language and shouting anti-presidential slogans. But as it turned out, the student was deaf-mute.

Another shocking accident: on October Square a riot policeman stroke Volha Zavadskaya, a widow of forcibly abducted OTR cameraman, in on the face. There were no apologies to Svyatlana! On the contrary, during one of court sessions it was stated that it was she, a dishonourable woman, who attacked riot policemen, and they simply defended themselves…

The former commander of the special squad of police Yury Padabed was banned entry to the EU Countries for his extreme zeal in crackdown on peaceful protests.

A few days ago a protest rally against Russian troops in Belarus was disbanded brutally again…

Wouldn’t it be appropriate at least to apologize to those who had been wronged by brutal dispersals, before transiting to civilized methods of work (which seems unlikely to say the truth)?

However, colonel Paludzen does not think there is something they should apologize for.

“We have been acting according to the current legislation,” he said to Narodnaya Volya. “Unfortunately, some citizens who attend unsanctioned events, do not have a sense or knowledge of law. They know their rights, but they categorically refuse to carry out their duties… Policemen often hear ungrounded and biased accusations, though we carry out inspections in any fact, even anonymous one. If there is a necessity to detain a citizen, everything is done politely, respectfully, in a civilized way, without use of force, everything is done in the framework of the law…

At the same time, we are open for constructive communication both with the press and opposition representatives…”

Yauhen Paludzen has noted that when a protest rally against Russian troops in Belarus was held in Minsk, he was in Germany.

“But from the facts I was reported I can draw a conclusion that there were no violations from the side of law-enforcing agencies,” the colonel said. “And as for the persons who held the unsanctioned rally… Policemen many times warned them that they were violating the law, that it was an unsanctioned rally, and that appropriate actions would be made against them to stop the event…”

According to Paludzen, the ways of solving problems with participation of police are more democratic than some foreign countries.

“Now we are studying the experience of other countries and adopt everything which is applicable in our county,” Paludzen said. “A number of young leaders have occupied commanding positions… I am sure that in the near future Belarusian police will become most advanced one”.

A DIFFERENT VIEW

Zmitser Bandarenka, a participant of any protest rallies, a coordinator of civil campaign “European Belarus” stated in an interview to “Narodnaya Volya”:

“Statements by Paludzen are either deliberate lies or complete ignorance of the situation, though he is a . Public Security Police commanding officer,” Zmitser Bandarenka said to “Narodnaya Volya”. “During the dispersal of the rally against arrival of Russian troops to Belarus, I saw myself and had a first-hand experience of Belarusian police’s humanity. During the dispersal there was no warning that the rally was unsanctioned. Riot policemen in plainclothes immediately attacked and started beating up people. The detained were placed into a bus. Moreover, accidental people are often arrested at such rallies. I was hit by fists and kicked in the bus. I saw that a guy was subject to beatings and humiliation: he was handcuffed and thrown on the floor and kicked. A girl was beaten. I saw Viktar Ivashkevich received a blow on the head. Threats of murder and rape by the police bus owners have become a usual practice. Almost the same took place during the rally dedicated to the 10th anniversary of forcible abductions of Viktar Hanchar and Anatol Krasouski. Mikola Statkevich was beaten. People who saw that were traumatized.

The detained are ordered to stand their face the wall in the police department. They are not allowed to move. In fact it is a torture. If a person moves, he is subject to beatings.

A right of people for freedom of gatherings is violated in Belarus. All attempts to hold a picket legally are hopeless. On May 1 as an experiment we filed an application for holding a rally at Bangalore Square dedicated to the Day of Solidarity and the EU enlargement. It was prohibited. A different thing: even if a rally is authorized, one has to pay for it. It is about $7,000 – for the work of police, for emergency service and so on. Once we held Jeans festival. We had paid for electricity; however it was switched off during the concert…

The day before yesterday, at the rally commemorating Hanchar and Krasouski’s disappearances, know-how against journalists was used. They were prevented from filming forcible arrests of demonstrators. Luckily, journalists managed to video and photograph facts of violence against themselves. There is a video footage where a reporter is beaten, pushed, hindered in his work, his clothes were torn. During the anti-war rally a camera of accredited Polish TV Channel journalist was damaged…

So what could we say about Paludzen? He is a loyal hellhound of the regime – I am not shy to say such words. He is either an incompetent man or he is deliberately lying…