Onlooker brutalized by plainclothes police says they crossed the line


Brutal arrests took place at a Sunday protest in Minsk, which was attended by hundreds of thousands of people. There were not only riot policemen, but also security officials in civilian clothes on the streets of the capital. They also had batons and balaclavas on. However, it is not known whether these are real “law enforcement officers”.

Belsat’s source Ivan was brutalized by the unknown masked people on the Peramozhtsau Avenue. Unidentified men rushed at him and started beating him. Ivan told us how it was.

“I was passing through the town center, going to the store to buy shoes, just walking and talking to a friend on the phone. Of course, I saw people with flags walking in front, twenty meters away from me. And then they suddenly ran. I didn’t stop, but I didn’t run either. When I turned around, I saw that people with batons running in our direction. One of them was purposefully running towards me. I tried to escape, but it was too late.

Ivan beaten by unknown men in balaclavas. Print screen of the video by eyewitnesses

First, one of them ran up to me, shouting: “On the ground, bitch, hands behind your head,” knocked me down, hit me, but not hard. He ran further, but the second ran up to me and began to beat me hard on legs and arms. I said that I was going to the store, but he didn’t care. He continued to swear and beat me hard. When he ran further, a girl ran up to me, lay down on me with a flag.

Ivan beaten by unknown men in balaclavas. Print screen of the video by eyewitnesses

A riot policeman ran up to us and told us to run towards the cafe. We ran, the girl’s flag was forcefully taken away from her, and they offered to take me to a “quiet, peaceful place.” They were no longer masked men but people in uniform. Passers-by protected me and took me to a cafe, called an ambulance, and gave me painkillers. I could not feel my collarbone, my coccyx hurt. I was taken to an ambulance, checked for fractures. I signed a paper saying I refused to go to hospital”.

Ivan does not see the point in filing a complaint with the police, as these same people are doing unlawful things on the streets.

“I have never participated in rallies, I have never been interested in politics. I was a neutral person, but my outlook has changed a lot. Bearded people with truncheons, in civilian clothes, are running around the city. It turns out that everyone can put on a mask and run around beating others with impunity. Walking the streets is scary.

I don’t know if I would go to a political rally now, but I felt horror, it was completely unexpected that such a thing could happen at all. This is an overkill on the part of the security forces. The protesters do nothing but walking out peacefully. This is how I see the situation from the side. Severe beating of people are unjustified and unlawful”.

Traditional Sunday peaceful march in Mahiliou on September 6.
Photo: Belsat.eu

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, on September 6, security officials detained 633 people, 363 were later tried.

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