Belarus police send administrative offence reports to battered Belsat TV contributor

Four administrative offence reports have been sent by post to Kastus Zhukouski and two – against his colleague Alyaksei Atroshchanka.

On June 21, our crew was working on a news story about the economic situation in the Belarusian town of Loyeu. The filming was interrupted by the policemen’s arrival. The both journalists were taken to the local police station, where Zhukouski was tortured.

“[They] simply attacked me, knocked me down to the floor, it was right at the police station. They pressed a knee against my head, pushed my into the tile, were hand-wringing, strangling me, then got handcuffs, pressed me so hard that an ambulance had to be called for — I had high blood pressure,” Zhukouski told Belsat TV.

Kastus Zhukouski is charged with insulting two official representatives and the policeman who detained him (two reports); the third charge was for disobedience to the police officer (first deputy head Henadz Madzhara); the fourth charge was for minor hooliganism. According to the reports, Zhukouski shouted, uttered curses and through his actions demonstrated outright disrespect to the public.

Alyaksei Atroshchanka is charged with insulting the officials and disobeying lawful police’s demands: he allegedly insulted the two women, official representatives, and then he refused to get into the police car to go to the police department.

After the incident, Interior Minister Ihar Shunevich promised to check information about Loyeu policemen’s beating  Zhukouski.

In 2016, Belsat TV contributor Kastus Zhukouski has been tried and fined many times. In its report on human rights violations in Belarus, the International Organization Amnesty International used his case as an example.

НМ, belsat.eu, following Belarusian Association of Journalists