Belarusian Halina Lahatskaya will remember her visit to a Minsk police station for long. There, police colonel Mikalai Rutski and his subordinate Mikhalyonak put the arm and heaped foul words on her.
On February 17, Lahatskaya was questioned after her participation in a ‘non-parasite’ rally. A woman came to Rutski, the deputy head of Maskouski district police department, and asked not to draw an administrative protocol on her. After the talk, Lahatskaya landed up in hospital.
The policemen dragged the woman by the hair, used bad language (including F-word) and inflicted bodily injuries on her. Fortunately, Halina Lahatskaya managed to record a ‘warm welcome’. But after the visit, she was accused of swearing.
Lahatskaya filed complaints against the policemen’s actions to the Investigative Committee and the Prosecutor’s Office. The first attempt failed, but the second one revealed the fact of gross and tactless behavior of ensign Mikhalyonak. The audio recording made by the victim became the basis for such a decision. At the same time, the inspectors turned a blind eye on the result of the forensic medical examination (Lahatskaya had hematomas), and policeman Mikhalyonak got off lucky – he was just stripped of a bonus payment.
The victim of police lawlessness decided to bring the case to court, but investigator Sakalova dismissed her request to open a criminal investigation.
