Hotsimsk police guilty of improper vehicle storage


Khotsimsk district court ordered the Finance Ministry to pay about Br 2,5 million for the damage done to the local residents’ car during the police arrest.

The trial lasted a year and a half, BelaPAN reports.

The Nissan Primastar minibus was arrested in February 2014, when its owner Alyaksandr Halavach, transporting 195 pairs of shoes from Russia, was detained by border control authorities and taken to the Khotsimsk police station. In May, the goods, which did not have proper accompanying documents, were confiscated, and an administrative penalty was imposed on its owner. The arrested vehicle, which was in the police custody all that time, was returned to the owner in June of the same year.

However, when Halavach got the car back from the police department, he found numerous scratches on the front wings and the bonnet. On inspection date, July 2, 2014, losses amounted to $240, or Br 2 million 453 thousand. The first appeal to the Khotimsk district court in September 2014 did not lead to the desired result for the plaintiff – there was no suit against the police department. In March 2016 Mahiliou Regional Court granted the cassation of Halavach and sent the case for retrial.

On May 17 the court found Khotsimsk police department guilty of illegal actions (inaction), which resulted in damage to the paintwork of the vehicle at the time of the improper storage, and ordered to compensate the damage to the car owner at the expense of the public treasury. Halavach also was to get reimbursed the 15 million and 140 thousand Br of the costs related to the court and counsel.

However, the family of the Hotsimsk resident are unhappy with the decision of the court, because they do not consider it fair to seek damages equivalent to $240 at the exchange rate of July 2014, which is about Br 2,5 million, and not at the current rate. “We are dissatisfied with the court, most likely, we will appeal,” said the wife of Halavach to BelaPAN, noting that today the most inexpensive repair of two wings and the bonnet will cost about $350.

Plaintiff’s lawyer Yauhen Bahuslauski also thinks there is a need to appeal the decision. In addition, he does not exclude that the state, namely the prosecutor’s office, will send a complaint or protest against the judgment.

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