Lukashenka's Administration Official: The Investigative Committee Cut the Video of Dmitry Uskhopov in a Particular Way

The authorities keep changing their version of the incident.

On the night of 31 December to 1 January, Dmitry Uskhopov, 27 years old, who had been detained and taken to the police, was killed in Rechytsa. The law enforcers don't see their fault in the incident, and the Investigative Committee has not opened a criminal case yet.

A former employee of Lukashenka's administration, lawyer Artem Proskalovich commented on the actions of the authorities and shared his opinion about the future situation in the Belsat Studio program.

According to lawyer Artem Proskalovich, it's still difficult to assert what happened on New Year's Eve in Rechytsa, but even now one can say there were violations of the instructions in the actions of law enforcement agencies.

"If we put emotions aside, we can say this is an emergency. A man ended up in hospital after he visited the police station, and then he died. First of all, let's turn to those instructions that law enforcement officials must apply. They are not all open to the public. However, I talked to my colleagues and former servicemen of interior troops. They say if a person is heavily intoxicated he should be immediately taken to a hospital to avoid such misunderstandings".

According to Artem Proskalovich, a lot of questions arise from the actions of the Investigative Committee, which is constantly changing its version of the incident.

"The video is cut once again in the way it suits propaganda and law enforcement agencies. That is if they say he came on his own and then he was taken to a health care institution for examination, why don't we see footage of him being taken out and coming out on his own? The inconsistency of the facts presented by the Investigative Committee catches our attention".

The lawyer believes all this is done to protect representatives of law-enforcement agencies and prevent them from being prosecuted.

"In Belarus, unfortunately, there is a policy of full protection of representatives of law enforcement agencies, representatives of state media. Certainly, there will be no criminal cases and inspections in the same situations, when ordinary citizens are prosecuted for an ordinary comment".

According to Artem Proskalovich, it will be almost impossible to seek justice in this situation, as no criminal case has even been initiated so far.

"In this case, it is indicative that an investigation is being carried out, as in other similar cases criminal proceedings are instantly initiated. If a person dies under such specific circumstances, this is enough to initiate a criminal case. This is important because when a criminal case is opened, all the evidence is recorded differently, investigative actions are carried out differently, and there is more control and accountability. When an inspection is carried out, it will end with a simple refusal to initiate a criminal case, which the relatives endlessly appeal".