‘I will never be punished for stepping on your face’: Police abuse in Fanipal


Tkachenka after detention, photo spring96.org

Syarhei Tkachenka, a resident of Fanipal, was detained and beaten by the local police on May 9.

The formal reason for the detention was his being intoxicated in a public place.

“I did drink alcohol on that day, but I behaved in an ordinary way, I did not disturb public order. When they took me to a police station, they started to insult me using foul language. I lost temper and answered them in kind. The policemen did not like it and they started to beat me. I was sitting on a chair handcuffed. One of them pushed me off the chair – I hit the floor and got my nose broken. They made a ‘swallow’ of me by fixing my right leg to the handcuffs behind my back. I had to spend about 40 minutes in this position. I was lying on the floor and they were beating me,” Tkachenka said.

According to Syarhei Tkachenka, a police officer put his foot on his face and said he would never be punished for that.

After spending a night in a cell, Tkachenka appeared before court. He was fined for disobedience to the police and being in a public place in a state of intoxication.

A forensic test found at least 26 traumas and injuries on his body.

Tkachenka filed a complaint against the police abuse to the district department of the Investigative Committee in the town of Dzyarzhynsk. The policemen who detained him denied the fact of lifting hands against the detainee. Syarhei’s wife who witnessed the detention was not questioned by investigators. CCTV footage from Fanipal police has been reportedly lost. As a result, on June 12 the investigators decided not to open a criminal case over the beating due to ‘insufficient evidence’.

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