Vasil Paliakou appeals groundless detention

On 5 November the head of the Homel regional branch of the Unitec Civil Party and the party's deputy head Vasil Paliakou applied to the Savetski District Prosecutor's Office of Homel in connection with a groundless detention by police. He asks to give a legal assessment to actions of the head of a riot police brigade, Siarhei Astaenka, who groundlessly detained him, and the deputy head of the criminal search department of the Savetski District Police Department Aliaksei Scrabuk, who violated the norms of the criminal-process and administrative-process law. Vasil Paliakou also demands that the prosecutor took the appropriate measures on this fact.

The oppositionist was detained by the police ensign Siarhei Astapenka at about 21.30 p.m. on 2 November near his house on Rechytskaya highway. During the detention the police officer stated that a mobile phone had allegedly been stolen and Vasil Paliakou matched the description of the criminal. The politician was guarded to the DPD, where he was searched without being explained his rights and duties. He wasn't allowed to use his mobile phone to tell his relatives about the detention.

“All belongings which I had with me at the moment of the detention – keys, netbook and other information carriers which contained intellectual property, were left beyond the zone of my control on an insistent demand of Aliaksei Skrabuk. I had the impression that the real reason for my detention was the desire to receive access to my personal belongings, including the keys. I was taken to another room, where no process measures were conducted. Neither a report of detention for identification, nor a questioning report were drawn up,” points Mr. Paliakou.

He was released from the DPD at about 00.12 a.m. By that time the police had already forgotten that he “resembled a criminal”, as no process measures were conducted. Vasil Paliakou considers the detention as lawless and having nothing to do with the stated reasons (the theft of a mobile phone).