"Beating" of special police troops to cost Breus and Gaponov 21 millions

court’s decision in the “mass disorders case” so far.

20.00 Minsk Moscow District Court has returned Russians Artyom Breus and Ivan Gaponov guilty of participation in the mass disorders on December 19. But they have been fined for 300 base amounts each (about 10.5 million rubles) and have been released in the court room.

 

Dzmitry Myadzvedz has been sentenced to 3 years of personal restraint.

16.54. The prosecutor thinks that the guilt has been proved. However, taking the absence of aggravating circumstances and serous consequences into account alongside with the defendants’ age, he is asking to fine each of them for 500 base amounts.
16.45. The judge has not allowed the lawyers to take a break to get ready for the legal controversy despite the fact that 15 victims have been interrogated today and that their evidence has to be analyzed.

16:12. 15th member of special police troops, Ivashka, is being interrogated. He says that he was hit in the back. However, according to the expertise, he was hit on the head.

16:07. The 14th victim, member of special police troops Masalski, is being interrogated. He says: “People called us the regime’s henchmen”, informs Radio Liberty.

15:50. A reporter of “Nasha Niva” has been made to leave the court room without any explanation, his phone has been checked and he has been forbidden to come back.

15:43. Yauhen Sakach, 27-year-old member of special police troops is being interrogated.

15:23. The next victim is Andrei Palavinkin born in 1984.

15:21. The next member of special police troops says that he heard threats – “Beat the police!”. A 60-year-old man ran out of the crowd and attacked him with a fire extinguisher.

15:16. Ivan Volkau, born in 1982 is being interrogated. A member of special police troops, received higher education.

The policemen’s evidence is similar, the judge and the prosecutor are asking them fewer and fewer questions.

15:00. Dzmitry Lyavitski is being interrogated. He is a special police driver, born in 1972, received secondary education.

He says the demonstrators could leave the square and that they did not get detained. Breus has objected to him because he was detained when he tried to do it.

Karavayeu says that he was hit on the head which caused buzzing in the ears. He did not see any weapons on demonstrators, only wooden sticks.

Everyone has forgotten about Breus and Gaponov at the hearing. Nobody is asking them about anything.

14:29. Yury Dalidovich, commander of the special regiment is being interrogated.

Dalidovich says that somebody threw a metal trashcan at special police troops and saw several policemen to be drawn out of the line and beaten. Dalidovich was hit in the teeth but they were not loosened.

The member of special police troops has also complained about photo reporters who blinded him with flash guns and he could not see anything for a few minutes.

Dalіdovіch has claimed that strong men in sheepskin coats resisted them. He says there were 6 thousand of them. He shrugged his shoulders answering the question why the 6 thousand men did not manage to beat the special police troops.

14:27. Kashtalyanau did not see Breus and Gaponov in the square. He does not know who detained them either.

14:07. Alyaksandr Kashtalyanau – deputy head of Minsk special regiment (he gave evidence against Myadzedz) is being interrogated. He describes “a disorderly crowd’ and policemen hit on the shields. There is no confusion in his evidence.

Kashtalyanau says that he saw people throwing fishing poles and plastic bottles at policemen. He claims that they also used fire extinguishers. Kashtalyanau was hit on the leg.

The lawyers have asked him what he saw in the square. He has replied that he saw everything that had been shown in the film “Square”.

13:59. The rest is over. 10 beaten members of special police troops have entered the court room. There were not enough seats for them even on the additional benches. One of them is sitting in an arm-chair fetched by the secretary.


12.36. Rest until 2 p.m.

 
12.17. Ihar Dzyankevich, born in 1981, is being interrogated. He received secondary education and serves in the special regiment of Minsk City Department of the Interior. He says that people “tried to rush past him” 4 times. He saw a man wearing police uniform who asked them to leave “so that they could move without obstacles”.


The member of special police troops says that he was beaten “with sticks on the legs and on the shields”. He claims that there were 4 or 5 people acting in an organized way in front of them. One of the men attacked him... with a fire extinguisher.
Dzyankevich received medical assistance in the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ hospital but did not take a sick leave.
He does not know the defendants either.


12.05. Mr. Komar, born in 1970, is being interrogated. He received secondary education and serves in Minsk City special police troops.

 

He says that they approached the House of the Government from Soviet Street. He did not see anything because he “did not look around”. He says he was standing with his back to the central entrance, and that people were beating and booting the shields. “I was caught by my jacket, they hit me on the nape and on the knee”, - says Komar.


According to him, there were two attempts to reach the building and that the assaulters “were not very active”.

11.43. The next victim is being interrogated – Alyaksandr Kudravets, born in 1979. He recived secondary education and serves in the special regiment of Minsk City Department of the Interior.
According to Kudravets, 4 people with metal rods attacked him. He took a sick leave for 10 days.
The member of specials police troops has said that he has never seen the defendants before.

 

11.42. According to Skarahod, he was near the central entrance and “about 100 people kept trying to reach the entrance but they did not manage to do it”.

11.33. Skarahod says that he would be able to recognize the demonstrators from the front line but he did not see the defendants there.


The defense has drawn attention to discrepancies in the policeman’s evidence – he says he was near the central entrance of the House of the Government and on its right side at the same time. The judge has asked the defense to ask “more specific questions”.

 

11.30. The member of special police troops says that he asked for medical assistance in Minsk Department of the Interior’s hospital at 1 a.m. He had two bruises on the head and a haematoma on his right shoulder. He spent a week in hospital and “he has no health problems now”.
 

11.20. Dzmitry Skarahod, born in 1975, is being interrogated. He recived secondary education and serves in Minsk City special police troops.
Skarahod says that people broke through the police near him. “They dragged me into the crowd by the shield and knocked me down. I think they hit me on my legs or body. I fell down and they tore off my helmet and hit me on the head twice or thrice”, - says the policemen. According to him, his colleagues managed to force the crowd back and he “managed to return”. Then he “stood up and continued fulfilling his duties”.

Skarahod says that they were ordered to divide the crowd into two parts: the first part stayed near the House of the Government and the second one was pushed towards the hotel “Minsk”.

11.10. Bulavaitski says that he got a fat lip and that his “frenulum of upper lip was torn”. These are all the injuries he received. He went to the doctor immediately and he said that everything was okay. The policeman did not take a sick leave. However, he experienced “unpleasant feelings” for the following 3 or 4 days”. 

 

11.03. The defence has started interrogating the member of special police troops. Bulavaitski has repeated that people resisted to them, hit them on their helmets and shields. The resistance occurred near the central entrance to the building. He received bodily injuries on the right side of the House of the Government at first.  He cannot tell the exact time when special police troops reached the House of the Government although he did it during the investigation. That is why the lawyer has asked to read the interrogation report aloud.

 

10.53. A victim is being interrogated – Dzyanis Bulavatski born in 1984. He received secondary education and is an employee of Minsk City Department of the Interior. “I headed for the base at 2 p.m. We got in the car and headed for the Palace of the Republic at 4 p.m. We were informed that there was a threat of movement towards the House of the Government at 8 p.m. or at half past eight”, - says Bulavaitski. According to him, they headed for the House of the Government soon after 9 p.m. and heard “people assaulting the building”.

 

The member of special police troops says that he was wearing his uniform, had a helmet, body armour, a shield and protective arm and leg cover plates. “They were throwing objects at us while we were moving… I do not know what the objects were but they were not very big. We made a line and they started resisting us immediately: beating and booting us and they tore the helmet off me. The crowd were aggressive. A policeman was dragged into the crowd and I saw how it happened, his helmet was torn off. They hit him on the head 3 or 4 ties”, - says Bulavaitski.

 

The member of special police troops says that he heard mottoes “Beat the special police troops!” “Judging by their actions I can only say that they were against the state leader. They were shouting “Down with the authorities!”, - says Bulavaitski.
 

The member of special police troops says that he did not see anyone beating him with objects. However, some objects like spades were found in the square after “the cleaning”. He says that he cannot accuse the defendants of anything and that he does not know them.

 

10.44. Gaponov says that he did not see any arsons or waste. He did not see weapons on people. “I did not see any bottles, ice-axes, axes or metal rods. I did not have any objects on me either”, - he says.

10.37. The prosecutor says that Gaponov’s evidence differs from the evidence received during the investigation. The interrogation report is about to be read aloud. According to it, Gaponov said that he got to know about the meeting from a presidential candidate’s speech: “I think that some other person has to rule the state and that is why I came to the square”. The prosecutor: “You said you had come to express your citizen’s point of view but now you are saying that you were just interested”. Gaponov says he was simply interested.

 

10:31. Ivan Gaponov is being interrogated. The same questions are being asked. Gaponov says he did not try to force his way through the police and did not beat anyone.

 

10:25. Breus says that he was interested in being there and seeing it. He did not see any arson. Breus also says that he was hit on the head being in the front line of the crowd. Then he was dragged backwards. When he came to his senses he saw that he was sitting on the threshold of the House of the Government. A guy approached him and gave him a handkerchief to cover his wound.

 

He stood up and wanted to leave the square but saw that he was encircled. Breus approached policemen in order to leave but was hit on the head in response and detained.

 

"I felt bad and medical assistance was rendered to me on the way because people asked for it for me”, - said Breus. According to him, some people did attack policemen.

 

10:21. Breus says that he was 50 meters away from the House of the Government, on the side of the Catholic Church. People had already stopped beating panes when he approached the House of the Government and special police troops appeared immediately.

 

Answering the prosecutor’s question, he responded that he had not seen any sticks or spades. He did not see anyone beating policemen either. He says that he did not beat policemen and did not try to force his way through policemen towards the building.

 

10:19 Artyom Breus is being interrogated. He does not even know the name of the square near the Palace of the Republic. He is describing the events.

 

10.15. Artyom Breus and Ivan Gaponov’s hearing has been resumed in Moscow District Court. The court has ordered to bring 15 members of special police troops to court as victims. Five of them are present – Bulavaitski, Skarahod, Kudravets, Dzinkevich and Komar, the others have not come but they will appear later during the investigation.

 

The judge has asked them (members of special police troops) whether they understand their rights. They nodded. The judge has told them to speak instead of nodding.

Observers will assess whether the hearings correspond to the national legislation and fair court examination norms mentioned in OSCE documents and obligatory international legal agreements. The bureau will publish a report after the monitoring.

 

Dzmitry Myadzvedz’s hearing was started on March 1 but postponed in connection with the change of accusation according to the lawyer’s request. According to the revised accusation, Myadzvedz is accused of armed resistance to the police.

Artyom Breus and Ivan Gaponov’s trial was postponed for the same reason. The Russians are accused of active participation in mass disorders and pogroms, of armed resistance to the authorities and of having hurt policemen. Their hearing began on February 22.

The state prosecution presented a list of 15 policemen that were said to have been beaten by demonstrators including Breus and Gaponov on March 1. The lawyers requested a break in connection with the new case papers, informs BelaPAN.