Beaten activist filed complaint to prosecutor’s office

On 7 May before the action of solidarity that was held by democratic activists to mark the tenth anniversary of disappearance of Yury Zakharanka, the police detained several persons near Kastrychnitskaya metro station. Among the detainees there were Raman Bahdanovich, Siarhei Kazakou, Anatol Liabedzka, Aliaksei Senchyla and Maxim Serhiyets. The warrant officer Dzianis Korsak put down their passport data. Then the detainees were taken to a police bus, where they were beaten by policemen.

In his complaint Maxim Serhiyets stated that the police officers humiliated and threatened him, took away his mobile phone and then hit him in stomach with feet and fists and strangled him. These actions of the police were accompanied with dirty swearing and insults. One of the policemen seized the activist by his coat and tore it. When Mikola was thrown down on the floor, one of them walked on his back. The rest also lied with their faces to the ground and were beaten.

Then the detainees were guarded to Tsentralny district police department, from which they were released without explanations of the reasons for the detention.

Maxim Serhiyets believes that the law enforcement officers committed unlawful actions towards him, exceeded their duty powers and thus violation the law On law enforcement agencies and also inflicted moral and material harm to him. That’s why the activist asks to hold a prosecutorial check-up of the facts, start the criminal proceedings and punish the protractors in conformity with the legislation.

Pitifully enough, it is far from being the only case of violence against other-minded citizens from the side of those who must protect them from real crimes. Human rights defenders consider such facts as tortures. However, not a single police officer has been brought to account for it so far.