Police promise to take fingerprints from dead man by force

A man who died 10 years ago is suspected by the police in Brest in playing a part in the explosion during the 2008 Independence Day celebrations in Minsk. Law-enforcers threaten to prosecute him for refusing to provide his fingerprints to investigators.  Volha Brailyan, a resident of Brest, burried her husband Ivan almost ten years ago. The burrial the former officer was organized by the military drafting office, Volha told the European Radio for Belarus.

But in less than a year, some wierd things began happening. Revenue authority officials demanded that the late pay taxes for a country home.

Volha Brailyan: “I spent almost three years trying to sort out the things with them. I managed to convince them to cross the name of my husband from their lists. They would laugh and cross him but charge taxes for the country home next year. There is only one plot with two owners to be texed -- myself and my late husband”.

Hardly had the woman sorted out misunderstandings with the revenue authorities, the police were next in the queue. In early 2009 she received a summon demanding that her husband report to the police station to leave his finger .

Volha Brialyan: “I rang them and said: "Guys, the man died ten years ago. They say: "We got this data from the military drafting office”.

It seemed that the case was exhausted. But another summons arrived three months later. The woman decided to approach the military drafting office. Military officers were surprised.

On October 8, the woman received the third summons, threatening punishment if the late man would fail to report to the police.