‘What Can You Do To Me?’: Police Officer Attacks Passer-By Who Filmed Him

The policeman tore Ruslan Tararoev’s shirt.

58-year-old Minsk builder Ruslan Tararoev has an unusual hobby. For over a year now he has been filming all the violations he sees around him. Tararoev is not specifically looking for them - his Youtube channel is called “Just a Passerby,” the Euroradio website writes.

On August 17, Ruslan was returning home from the store, noticed a man in uniform smoking a cigarette, and habitually turned on the phone for recording. No one knew that this would end in a fight with a policeman, a torn shirt and a statement to the Investigatory Committee.

- I was passing by, and saw a man in uniform smoking. And according to the law of the minister, they have 424 orders prohibiting smoking in uniform. I went up to ask. And then, you saw, this sergeant in uniform ran out …

The smoker turned out to be a forensic expert, and order #424 applies only to employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. But the younger sergeant, seeing Tararoev’s phone in his hands, decided not to stand on ceremony:

- What will you do to me? - the policeman said confidently.

There was a sound of the shirt tearing. Tararoev was forced to run away. Having driven him away from the station, the policeman returned. He did not pay attention to the words that the prosecutor’s office will be involved in the incident.

The video was shot near the city police department # 2 in Yesenin Street, 14 in Minsk. According to Tararoev, he met the policeman who tried to knock the phone out of his hands about two weeks before the incident.

- A police car was driving along the sidewalk. He [Junior Sergeant] was riding a passenger and was not wearing a seat belt. I asked why he was not fastened, and he explained to me that a police officer might not be fastened in the service car. I said: “Well, okay,” - and asked him to introduce himself, like, who told me this. And it somehow infuriated him. He began to demand documents, said that I met some sort of orientation. They took me to the police department, but they did not let me in, because I was with the phone. Then he went out, said: “Wait for the boss,” and left. In fact, he left the criminal, who “meets an orientation”, alone, and left! I wrote a complaint about this, because they accused me. But they answered there was no violation. Well, okay, if they think it’s normal, let it be so.

Ruslan first had the idea to video-record violations after the incident involving Head of the Belarusian traffic police Dzmitry Karzyuk. “I was at a reception with him, and he told me that if I had a video, he would take measures against a police officer [with whose actions Tararoev was dissatisfied - edit.], and so, without a video, he had no reason not to believe a policeman. After that I bought a phone - before that I hadn’t even used mobile communications.”

According to Tararoev, he most often receives just formal replies to his allegations of violations. For example, on November 17, 2018, a video appeared on his channel where a police officer drives a car along a footpath.

- On this footpath, civilians were held accountable. But with regard to this colonel they wrote to me that there was no violation. Driving on a footpath - since when this is not a violation!

- During this time, did you understand why police officers sometimes exceed authority? - we ask Ruslan Tararoev.

- Because of impunity. Because the leadership does not want to punish them. How do they do it? If you punish some ordinary employee - a lieutenant or a sergeant - then you must punish his commander. And it’s easier to hush up this matter. It’s easier for a person to send some formal reply, that's all. Many stop doing this [filing statements and complaints - edit.].

Officially: the policeman kept his job, now the investigation is being carried out by the Investigatory Committee.

Interior Ministry spokeswoman Volha Chamadanava told reporters that the conflict between the Junior Sergeant and Ruslan Tararoev did not go unnoticed by the police leadership.

- In this case, an internal check was appointed, and the person who was filming the video turned to the Investigatory Committee, where the check is currently being conducted.

- Has the employee who got in the video kept his job in the police?

- He works. I think it makes no sense to discuss this. We’re talking specifically about the video, right?

- Recently, Minister of Internal Affairs Yury Karayeu said in an interview that people in uniform should remember that they serve the people, the citizens, society, protect their rights. And here we see a bad situation.

- Of course, we must first of all act in the interests of citizens. And apply professional approach. Why has a service check been appointed? In order to understand the reasons and conditions why this happened.