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Hazing In Military: Sergeant Faces 12 Years In Prison For Beating Off Conscript Soldier’s Lien In Hrodna

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Hazing In Military: Sergeant Faces 12 Years In Prison For Beating Off Conscript Soldier’s Lien In Hrodna

The Kastrychnitski district court of Hrodna is considering this notorious case.

The story happened in March 2016 in one of the military units in Hrodna: two soldiers allegedly had a fight, one of them sustained injuries. As in any disputable case, there are several versions of what really happened here: the defendant claims he didn’t beat his comrade-in-arms, the victim claims he felt a blow in his low back so powerful that the youngster’s lien was removed three days later. The Kastrychnitski district court of Hrodna is handling this notorious case, tut.by reports.

According to victim Uladzislau, their conflict with Yauhen comprised of two episodes.

On the first day, lance-corporal Ulad was an orderly in his detachment. The Sergeant made him a reprimand while passing by, and slightly tapped him on the shoulder with a file with papers to cause better effect. On this, the victim claims, their interaction ended.

Later on, on some other day, the situation repeated, but this time the Sergeant started shouting at his comrade-in-arms. Uladzislau bent back, and the badly fixated shield fell down behind his back. The youngster turned around to fix the construction, and, as he says, at that very moment he felt a powerful blow in the left side of his low back. During the investigation the victim clarified he hadn’t seen the man heating him, but can only tell about the blow basing on his sensations.

Ulad told no one about the incident, considering it non-significant. During the following three days the lance-corporal felt as usual: he attended the trainings and fulfilled his duties. However, after he had a solid meal of the treats, brought by his parents, he felt bad and required medical aid. He was urgently delivered to the hospital and had his lien removed in several hours as it was damaged and there was blood in the abdominal cavity.

The doctors started to investigate what had happened to the soldier, and later he recalled that he had been sort of hit by the Sergeant three days before. The hospital staff presumed this could be the reason for the occurrence.

A criminal case was started upon the incident. The Sergeant was charged with abuse of power. Such crimes are punished with 5 to 12 years of imprisonment.

The defendant claims he didn’t beat the soldier. He admits there was an incident with the file with papers, but he fully denies the incident when he allegedly hit Uladzislau in the back with his fist. Other soldiers confirm his version: a lance-corporal standing on a barracks orderly post is always in the limelight, so if there was a conflict with beating, someone would certainly notice it.

— There wasn’t a blow. I was there. The shield fell down, but it falls after any clumsy movement. No one beat anyone. When they called me for the first interrogation, they told: it’s whether I say that he (Yauhen) beat the guy and be a witness in the case, or say nothing and become a partner in crime. I described all this in court, everything is recorded in my testimony. I told everything exactly as it happened, — Aliaksei, who served in the army with the youngsters, says.

Relatives and friends of the defendant come to the trial; there have already been 10 sessions of the court. According to them, they come so that the court would provide an unbiased handling of this, as they think, “complicated and mixed-up case”.

During the last session of the court, the testimonies of the forensic experts, including those got during the investigation, were read out. The specialist came to the conclusion that the blow could have been the reason for damaging the lien, but it was impossible to precisely diagnosticate this.

The defendant’s lawyer asked to appoint additional, more detailed pathohistological examination which could bring light to what really happened and help to find out the exact reasons for the lien damage. The lawyer is convinced that, by the moment of the incident considered by the court, the victim already had certain pathological conversions in his body: the experts’ conclusion claims that at the moment of removal of the lien there had already been some necrotic mutations of the tissues — and this takes time.

The representative of the accusation saw no need for an additional examination, the victim also refused. The court withdrew for consultations in this regard.

The defendant’s parents do not believe that Yauhen could beat his comrade-in-arms, and show the youngster’s letters after the trial: he writes that he didn’t beat the lance-corporal and does not understand why they imprisoned him (Yauhen was placed in detention).

— There is no real evidence against my son. The experts seem unsure of anything. The boy (the victim Uladzislau) felt bad several days after the alleged blow. There are many witnesses who say there was no blow. However, my son is behind the bars, facing 12 years in prison, — Yauhen’s mother says.

PARENTS OF DEFENDANT YAUHEN

The defendant does not admit guilt and keeps on insisting he did not beat the lance-corporal. The victim claims the blow did happen.

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