Lies on air

Minister of internal affairs of Belarus Ihar Shunevich said to Belarus 1 TV that the police had never used rubber bullets and smoke grenades against demonstrators.

The statement was made as he was speaking about the ministry's readiness to response to any “disorders” during the so called “presidential elections”. “We use rubber buttons and shields. These are means of active defence,” the interior minister said.

In actual fact, as the website charter97.org and other media, including world's leading ones, reported, the police used KS-23 shotguns, Dreif aerosol grenades, Cheremukha-1 and Cheremukha-6 tear gas grenades during the dispersal of a rally on March 25, 2006.

One of the photographs shows a police officer aiming a KS-23 shotgun at people at point-blank range, which is strictly forbidden by instructions.

A KS-23 shotgun can be equipped with gas cartridges. The effect radius of tear gas is about 10 metres.

According to photos, the Belarusian police used another riot control agent at the rally on 25 March 2006 – hand aerosol grenades Dreif. The volume of a aerosol could that causes mucous membranes irritation is 50 cubic metres.

The closest analogues of Dreif grenades is tear agents from the Cheremukha family. The riot police is equipped with Cheremukha-1 and Cheremukha-6 grenades. One a grenade lands, the fuse activates chemical agents and the grenade begins to emit harsh smoke. Unlike Cheremukha-1, a Cheremukha-6 grenade has an additional feature: the plastic canister spins like a top after landing, so it is impossible to catch it and throw it aside.