New tortures in PD: testimonials were forced with brass knuckles and gas

Policemen beat a detained Minsk resident into fainting.

A police lieutenant Lapcieu beat a Minsk resident Illa Zubenia for an unpleasant statement on the part of policemen on 27 March 2013.

Zubenia and his friends were detained in the street and loaded into a police car and then sprayed gas into their faces, a human rights web-site Platforma reports.

In 10 minutes, when the gas evaporated out of the car, Illa and Jaraslau were taken into 23rd police station.

At the police station a person in mufti behaved provocatively. He punched Illa in the face. According to the detained, he briefly fainted, having beaten his head against the wall after which his left eye could no longer see anything. Then Lapcieu grabbed Illa and threw him on the floor and kept beating the detained.

The consequences of the beatings can well be seen in the photos.

Photographs of Illa three days after the beating.

Then the policemen took a napkin from the table and pulled something out of the drawer. Having approached Illa he showed a brass knuckles and started pulling it against Illa’s head telling that he would fabricate a case and the DNA will appear to be Illa’s. In order to create evidence for his words he started shouting loudly demanding other policemen to confirm that they saw how he found the brass knuckles in Illa’s pocket. Other policemen confirmed that the brass knuckles was found in their presence. It is unknown how everything would have ended if Illa was not a person he did not want to take someone else’s responsibility. However, lieutenant Lapcieu kept demanded testimonials from Illa.

Then he hid the weapon and started with new threats.

Particularly Lapcieu threatened Illa with a criminal prison term according to the article 363 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (Resistance to a policeman or a person guarding public order). Attempting to break the stubborn resistance of the detained, lieutenant Lapcieu showed his weapon to Illa again hinting that he might apply it. Then Illa Zubenia, who repeatedly asked to call the ambulance for him, was taken to Lenin district’s police department, where he also asked policemen to call the ambulance. Then Illa was taken to the police station number 2 in Lenina street, where he remained until the trial. No one reacted on the repeated requests of the detained to call medical personnel.

In the end Illa Zubenia was taken to court only in two days and punished with a fine in the amount of 2 basic units.