Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Hramada) Activist In Mahilyou Asks Punishment For Policeman

The detainee, arrested while collecting signatures for the abolition of the decree “on the social parasitism” filed a complaint against the policemen with the public prosecution office.

Mikita Fartukh, a volunteer of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Hramada), detained while collecting signatures for the abolition of the decree “on the social parasitism”, filed a complaint against the policemen with the public prosecution office, BelaPAN informs.

It is to be recalled that Fartukh was detained November 15 near the Radzima cinema in Mahilyou when he was collecting signatures for the abolition of the decree “on the social parasitism”. He was taken to the police office, but he was soon released without any charges. As the policemen explained, Fartukh hadn’t been charged with any claims after his identity had been verified.

In his complaint to the prosecutor of Mahilyou the volunteer claims that he was detained by a senior police lieutenant who didn’t perform himself and who had no badge and by three policemen dressed in civilian clothing, who also didn’t give their names.

“I explained the senior police lieutenant that I was only collecting signatures for the abolition of the Decree №3 and I wasn’t holding any mass event. I showed him the signature sheet. He examined it, gave it back to me and ordered three policemen in civilian dress to take me to the police office located in Krylenka Street.

I immediately handed my passport to the senior lieutenant, told him to copy my passport details and asked him not to seize me because he had no grounds for my detention. However, he didn’t copy my passport data. He gave my passport and the signature sheet back to me and confirmed his order to detain me, saying that they would sort out the situation at the police office”, - as is stated in the volunteer’s complaint.

As said by Fartukh, at the police office a police captain, who didn’t introduce himself, drew up an interrogation protocol. After that, according to the activist, he had to wait for another policeman who checked his passport.

“I was detained, taken to the police station, and the abovementioned procedural acts against me were held illegally and without a reasonable basis, because the police immediately established my identity when I submitted my passport for inspection. And I hadn’t done any offences, including participation in public events or handing out newspapers and leaflets,” – Mikita Fartukh says.

He also considers that the police conducted the detention with violation of the established order, because they did not introduce themselves and did not inform him about the reason of his detention.

“I ask you to conduct an investigation of the stated violations, to establish the identities of the police officers who had detained me, and to bring the guilty to justice under the law”, – a volunteer of Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Hramada) says in his complaint.