Valiantsin Stefanovich: “This is a very widely used practice among the police” :: Charter'97 :: News

Savietski DDIA of Minsk made a report registering the alleged disorderly conduct on the part of the BPF Youth coordinator Alies Kalita who had been detained for distributing the Narodnaia volia. At the same time, Alies Kalita was taken by ambulance from the police to the hospital where he is undergoing treatment after being beaten during the detention.

“With Alies Kalita, the detention is absolutely illegal, because the Narodnaia Volia is an officially registered newspaper and no one has taken a decision banning its distribution. Valiantsin Stefanovich, the lawyer of the Human Rights Center Viasna, says: "And when the police officer (who was alone in this case) detained and damaged Kalita`s hand, then his colleagues understood that he had committed an offence and so decided to make a report by terms of Article 156 of the Code of Administrative Violations – disorderly conduct.

This is a very widely used practice among the police. When they see that they have no reasons to make a detention or they have committed an illegal detention, they start to “solve the problem” – drawing up a report by terms of Article 156. (disorderly conduct). As our previous experience shows contesting the police report drawn up by terms of this article in court is very difficult. Several police officers will write that they heard the "offender" swearing at the police officers. And the man was alone and he has no witnesses. Correspondingly, the court pass a ruling based on the evidence given by the police officers".