English

Lukashenka shrugs off police torture reports

Alyaksandr Lukashenka denied on Tuesday that people in Belarus were subjected to torturous treatment by police and officers of the Committee for State Security (KGB). 

A BelaPAN reporter asked the Belarusian leader at a news conference whether he was aware of reports of abuse inside Belarusian police stations and prisons and the mistreatment of opposition activists imprisoned over a post-election street protest in December 2010.

"Participants of the mass disorder should not complain about anything," Mr. Lukashenka said, referring to his political opponents. "I would ask them why they took part in the mass disorder."

Speaking about elderly man Vasil Sarochyk's allegations that he was tortured inside a police station in Minsk, Mr. Lukashenka said that he been informed about the case by his aides. "I was told on the same day that a woman had allegedly beat him up. [Upon learning] that a woman [allegedly] beat up a man, I lost interest in the matter," he said.

"I know that there was no [torture] there," he said, suggesting that the reporter meet the prosecutor general to receive full information about the case.

"If you need information, the prosecutor will invite you and tell you about the mass disorder and beatings, the progress of inquiries," he said.