Prosecutor’s office gives runaround to complaints against “tikhari”

A human rights activist Uladzimir Marozau has informed about another case.

He appealed the prosecutor of Minsk with a request to bring to responsibly the policemen who had been smothering him on July 6 near the National Library till he fainted, Vyasna human rights centre informs.

The situation created by the policemen menaced the life of this person. We remind that one of the men in mufti, who with the use of brutal force tried to drag Uladzimir into the bus without number plates, used submission hold, and after that the sick man fell unconscious. Meanwhile men in mufti (“tikhari”), who presented themselves as representatives of interior affairs agencies, did not call for an ambulance, and moreover, prevented others from calling an ambulance, detaining people who tried to make a call.

As Uladzimir Marozau stated in a formal complaint to the prosecutor’s office, criminal offence under articles 159 of the Criminal Code “Failure to give assistance to persons in danger”, Article 425 of the Criminal Code (“Failure to act by an official”), and Article 426 of the Criminal Code (“Abuse of power”) could be found in such actions of the policemen.

However prosecution agencies evaded to give legal evaluation of the facts in the complaint. Marozau was told that the city prosecutor’s office forwarded his complaint to the prosecutor’s office of Pershamajski district, and then it was sent to the police department of Pershamajski district. It means that the prosecutor’s office, the authority which has necessary powers for carrying out an inspection and taking measures, threw the complaint of the victim to his chockers.

Many times human rights activists turned attention to such a “classic football”, when a prosecution organs ignore citizens’ rights, which is directly forbidden by the law “On handling public appeals”.