Alena Dubovik demands compensation for moral damage resulting from prison conditions
Alena Dubovik, detained together
with friends during a concert held on 24 March at the Culture House of the
Minsk Tractor Plant, sued the main police department of the Minsk City
Executive Committee for compensating the moral damage incurred as a result of
her stay in the detention facility in Akrestsin Street in Minsk.
Following the detention, Alena was charged under Article 17.1 of the Code of
Administrative Offenses, “disorderly conduct”, and punished with 3 days of
arrest. During the trial it was found that bodily injuries had been inflicted
to the girl during the detention. However, this circumstance was ignored by the
judge.
The first hearing on Alena Dubovik's lawsuit took place at the Maskouski
District Court of Minsk on 13 August. The case was considered by Judge Alena
Rudnitskaya. She appointed the next hearing to as late as 1 October for unknown
reasons. Meanwhile, as it was found during an examination conducted by the main
police department of the Minsk CEC, Alena Dubovik's keeping in the delinquents'
isolation center in Akrestin
Street was accompanied with violation of her
rights.
She described the conditions in the detention facility in her lawsuit: “I was
put into a cell with 8 people. The norm of space per one person was violated.
There were no sleeping berths and I wasn't given a mattress and bedclothes. The
toilets in the cells of the delinquents' isolation center are located in just 50 centimeters from
the sleeping place and are separated from it only with one partition. There is
not enough daylight in the cell. Artificial light is turned on all the time,
but even it is not sufficient, the cell is in semi-darkness. One can read only
with a great effort and for a short time, as the eyes get tired. It was rather cold
in the cell, as the ventilator cell cannot be closed and has to be covered with
newspapers. At the same time, it was stuffy, as almost everyone except for me
smoked. There is no drinking water in the cells. When I was put into the cell,
I was given a piece of soap and some newspapers instead of toilet paper. There
were rats in the cell. Some of the arrested people were extremely inaccurate,
but the administration take no measures to conduct at least elementary
sanitation towards them. I wasn't taken out for a walk even once during my stay
in prison.
As it was found during a check-up, held by the main police department of the
Minsk City Executive Committee it was found that the keeping of Alena Dubovik
in the delinquents' isolation center was accompanied with violation of her
rights. That's why she applied to court with the demand to exact a compensation
for the moral damage from the main police department and stop the work of the
detention facility where the rights of Belarusian citizens are violated on a
mass scale.
