Hundreds of people held in activity therapy center in Babruisk

The Babruisk-based police station No. 2 has hosted hearings to consider the cases of local residents charged with alcohol abuse, the newspaper Vecherniy Bobruisk said. Judge Alena Yarmashevich heard 15 cases and sent all of the defendants to activity therapy centers (medical labor dispensaries, LTPs) for compulsory treatment.

However, not all people sentenced to this type of punishment will get there soon. According to the Leninski district police department, the city’s activity therapy center, which can accommodate 500 people, now has no available room.

“This can happen in a month, a year or even two,” says a police representative. He also says that some 200 residents of Babruisk are sent to LTPs each year, “but of these, only 80-90 people can go to the dispensary”. Therefore, the treatment is imposed on those who have repeatedly refused to correct after similar court hearings.

According to the Law “On the Procedure and Conditions of Sending Citizens to Medical and Labor Dispensaries and Conditions of Detention in them”, sending for compulsory treatment in Belarus can only be applied to patients with chronic alcoholism, drug addiction or substance abuse, who during one year have been at least three times brought to administrative responsibility for offenses while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs.

Photo by Dzianis Sudnik