Policemen chained Hrodna resident to radiator for 24 hours

Policemen from Hrodna obtained necessary evidence from detainees by beating and chaining them to a radiator.

Charter97.org has learnt it from a reader on condition of anonymity.

Hrodna's Leninski district court hears a drug case. Three young men, 23, 24 and 25, are in the dock. One more guy, 19, has been in custody since November 13, 2012, on a request of a deputy prosecutor.

Court proceedings began on January 9, 2013. Evidence of witnesses for prosecution was heard.  Later, they changed their evidence in favour of the 19-year-old detainee saying they had been pressed by an investigator and a police officer.  One of the accused man also reported about pressure on him. He was chained to a radiator for 24 hours to obtain the evidence the investigator wanted.

The youngest of the defendants refused to admit his guilt and was thrown into a temporary detention facility and then into a pretrial detention centre of prison No. 1 in Hrodna on November 13, 2012. The young man had to confess under pressure. On February 12, 2013, he explained at the trial that he had been beaten by jail guards just after arrival. He said he had been pressed by a police agent. The judge, however, ignored his words as well as statements of other participants of the trial. No checks were appointed over the facts.  

On March 29, lawyers of two defendants filed motions to examine exhibits. The judge was shown the exhibits only of one of the defendants. There were no physical exhibits of the 19-year-old man. The judge adjourned the trial until April 15 in a hope that physical evidence would be showed later. However, they were not presented at the trial on April 15. according to the prosecuting official, the exhibits were destroyed. The lawyer of the 19-year-old man filed a motion to release his client on his own recognizance. The motion was denied, because, as the prosecuting official said, the destroyed exhibits were not a reason for changing the pretrial restrictions. The young man has been in custody for the fifth month without direct proofs of his guilt.

The next court hearing will be held on April 25. The young man will be in custody only because it is convenient to the judge, the prosecuting official and the deputy prosecutor of Hrodna's Leninski district, the investigator and the police agent responsible for drug-related crimes.