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Two young men in Minsk accuse police of torture

Minsk resident Pavel Kavalyonak complained to human rights defenders that he and his friend Vyachaslaw Hryshchuk had been brutally beaten up by police officers on March 30.

Messrs. Kavalyonak and Hryshchuk speak about the incident in a video posted on the website of a human rights organization called Platform Innovation. According to the video, the two young men were subjected to torturous treatment after Mr. Hryshchuk attempted to steal a bottle of vodka from a Radzivilawski store in the Urucha neighborhood while under the influence of alcohol. Mr. Kavalyonak tried to help his friend when shop assistants caught him and called the police. However, officers of the Pershamayski district police station arrived a few minutes later, handcuffed the two men, took them to a backroom and began beating them.

Mr. Kavalyonak was ordered to stand on his knees and then kicked in the back and the face. The abuse continued until the officers noticed that the young man had been seriously injured. They called an ambulance for him, and he was rushed to a hospital and diagnosed with a concussion and a broken frontal sinus.

Mr. Hryshchuk also suffered numerous injuries. In two of the photographs in Platform Innovation's report, marks left around Mr. Hryshchuk's neck by an assault rifle sling and the shape of a boot on his chest are clearly seen.

On April 1, Mr. Hryshchuk was sentenced to a fine of 3.2 million rubels ($369) on a charge of disorderly conduct.

The store's manager denied that Messrs. Kavalyonak and Hryshchuk had been beaten by police and pointed out that the store did not have a backroom.

The Investigative Committee has reportedly launched a probe into the incident.

Three more police abuse cases have been reported by the human rights organization recently. The victims included Vasil Sarochyk, an elderly guard in Minsk; Syarhey Khachaturan and Vital Hanchar, two young men in Dzyarzhynsk, Minsk region; and brothers Ivan and Bahdan Shkurko, young residents of Lida, Hrodna region. The young men were beaten up by the police in nightclubs, while Mr. Sarochyk was picked up at a parking lot and subjected to six hours of torture to make him confess to crimes he had not committed.

None of the police officers involved in the incidents have been punished. //BelaPAN