Brest: Man sentenced to 2 years of restricting liberty for picking up police radioset
On Tuesday, 34-year-old Dzmitry Shchurko was convicted in the Belarusian city of Brest.
He was accused of stealing a police radioset during a protest rally on September, 20. At that time, protesters were gathering on the corner of Savetskaya and Gogol streets. Soon a van drove up and detentions began. The man, however, says that he just picked up the walkie-talkie off the ground.
According to the prosecutor, the man took a radioset out of a policeman’s bag and brought it home. The following day Shchurko was summoned to the police station, and he gave the equipment back. The local police estimated the damage at 890 rubles.
The court found Dzmitry Shchurko guilty and sentenced him to 2 years of restriction of liberty without being sent to a correctional facility.
The Brest resident pleaded not guilty. He states he took the radioset away in order to use it as evidence of the crimes committed by plainclothes people who detained and beat peaceful demonstrators.
