Brest journalists Ales Lyauchuk and Milana Kharytonava have appealed to the Interior Ministry and prosecutor’s office of the Kobryn district. They are asking the authorities to assess the actions of six policemen who had once detained the journalists in Kobryn.
Belsat TV journalists Ales Lyauchuk and Milana Kharytonava were brutally detained by policemen in plain clothes. The incident occurred in Kobryn on March 18, when the regional center was to host a protest against the Decree #3. Besides rough detention, the journalists had their professional equipment seized from them. Thanks to the professional work of the journalist’s lawyer, almost all the equipment was later returned.
On March 13, the court punished the journalists of the Kobryn district with a fine of almost 2 thousand rubles. Lyauchuk and Kharytonava are planning to appeal this decision at the Brest Regional Court. The hearing will take place at 10:00 on 22 June.
“The police, who detained us on trumped-up reasons, used physical force against us, prevented us from fulfilling professional duties, and later gave false testimony in court, must answer for it. We believe that the actions of the police officers constitute a crime under Article 198 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus “Impeding the Lawful Professional Activities of Journalists” and Part 3 of Article 126 of the Criminal Code “Abuse of Power or Official Authority Involving Violence or Insult to the Victim”. The road police officer who did not stop the illegal actions of unknown persons in civilian clothes, may be brought to justice under the Criminal Code article “Official Inaction”. We will go further and seek justice. I want people to at least know the names of these men: Vyachaslau Klimchuk, Andrei Dzehel, Ihar Karpovich, Mikalai Salei, Andrei Rallo, Mikalai Surma — all of them are employees of the Kobryn police,” said Alyaksandr Lyauchuk.
