Possible police brutality in Brest. Young man dies after being severely beaten


On April 29, the 32-year-old resident of Brest Andrei Tarasenka died in hospital. According to the official version of events, the cause of death was pneumonia. Andrei’s relatives did not believe the official diagnosis. They argue that the week before his death, the man was severely beaten by police.

It all began on April 23 in the mini-cafe.

From there Andrei Tarasenka was taken to the police station. The police claim, there had been a fight. However, the cafe staff did not confirm this. According to relatives of the deceased, Andrei was brutally beaten by police in the police station.

Doctors claim that alcohol was to blame for everything.

The relatives of the deceased are worried by the findings of doctors on the causes of death. There appeared information that Andrei allegedly had problems with alcohol dependence.

Andrei Tarasenka’s relatives believe these findings to be an attempt to hide the truth.

“How can a person drink heavily, when he has owns a business and has two young children, he drove the car!” says Maryna Tarasenka.

The Investigative Committee continues investigation.

Relatives of the deceased areactively urged not to file criminal proceedings. Mother and widow of Andrei decided to appeal to the media and human rights defenders after seeing a story of two young men beaten by the police in Brest. They were also detained in a Brest cafe.

The main goal of the relatives is to bring to justice those responsible for Andrei’s death.

In recent years, only one case of violence in detention ended up in court. Others were swept under the carpet. It is important to note that the victims of police arbitrariness are turning to independent media and human rights defenders very rarely.

Ian Babitsky, “Belsat”, photo: Uladzimir Nikolsky / Reuters / Forum

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