Mass raids on former servicemen
The police are performing Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s order to find people guilty in the terrorist attack.
On April 12, the day after the metro blast, officers of the law-enforcement bodies visited Yury Darzhyeu, a veteran of the afghan War from the town of Valozhyn, at his home. They did not have a necessary warrant, but demanded to let them in to search the apartment in connection with the terrorist attack, Belsat TV channel reports.
“I was at work on that day. My colleagues can confirm this. I do not violate the law. So, I was very surprised to see policemen,” Yury Darzhyeu says. Officers in uniform refused to show their ID cards and began to search the apartment.
“They did not find anything. They asked me about CDs, but these were just films, so they didn’t seize them,” the Afghan War veteran adds. The policemen asked if Darzhyeu had heard anything suspicious regarding the blast in Minsk. They ordered him to sign a statement, in which he promises to tell investigators information or rumours about this matter.
“I was indignant, because they came to me as if I was a criminal! They did not explain why they needed to search my apartment,” the man said.
As Belsat learned from the police department of Valozhyn, raids and searches were carried out across the country. “Former servicemen and people having registered or unregistered arms are in the risk zone. This was an order of the president: to check everyone, seize dangerous things and bring suspicious people to responsibility,” police said.
Human rights activists turn attention that all investigative actions must be held in line with the law. “If they want to search your apartment, you must demand to show a search warrant. Do not sign any suspicious paper however much policemen insist on signing. Carelessly signed paper can be used against an innocent person,” a representative of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, Dzmitry Charnykh, says.
