On 9 September, Zhlobin District Court pronounced the verdict in the criminal case against Artsyom Barashka for insulting a public officer (Article 369 of the Criminal Code), reports the HRC “Viasna.”
The defendant was the traffic policeman from Hantsavichy, Ihar Volnich, who pressed his leg against a man’s neck during the arrest on June 20 last year. The video of the incident went viral. The victim did not appear in court, but gave an explanation and answered questions via Skype.
According to the investigation, Artsyom Barashka used his cell phone in the social network OK.ru to post an insulting comment under the photo of the incident. This was followed by a search at Yauhen’s place, his phone being confiscated, and a criminal case initiated in mid-June.
The accused, 37-year-old Artsyom Barashka, working at one of the locomotive depots as a train driver in Belarusian Railways, pleaded guilty to the charges. The man said in court that there were a lot of comments on the photo, but he didn’t count them.
After a quick trial, Judge Ihar Zmushko passed a sentence: three years of restricted freedom without sending Barashka to an open-type institution (“home chemistry”) and 1,500 BYN compensation for moral damages.
This June, in a similar case for insulting a traffic cop, Mikalai Lyokki was sentenced to two years of freedom restriction for insulting a traffic policeman Ihar Volnich. He had also left insulting words under the same photo, in which Volnich put his foot on the man’s neck at the moment of detention.
