Salihorsk: violation of language laws by traffic police appealed at prosecutor's office

Civil society activist Aliaksandr Malochka has appealed to Salihorsk District Prosecutor's Office seeking the punishment of the local traffic policemen who refused to communicate with him in Belarusian and were unable to draw up a violation report in the Belarusian language which presenting him charges of a violation of the traffic rules.

The prosecutor's office of Salihorsk district sent a complaint to the actions of the local traffic police, which are charged with minor offenses townsman Alexander Milk, refused to have official relations with the Belarusian language and failed to file a report in Belarusian.

As it is written in the appeal to Salihorsk district prosecutor, Mr. Malochka didn't deny having violated the traffic rules, but the traffic policemen Sinelnikau and Vialichka ignored his request to fill the violation report in the Belarusian language.

Moreover, the traffic policemen not only refused to provide an interpreter to the plaintiff, but also issued him a virtually unreadable copy of the violation report. As it is also stated in the appeal, the report was drawn up for a repeated violation of the traffic rules within the year. Before that, Mr. Malochka hadn't been punished for such violations.

Salihorsk District Prosecutor's Office is required to give a proper assessment to the actions of the traffic policemen. It's worth noting that according to the Law "On Civil Service" the right to hold public office in the Republic of Belarus is given only to the persons who have command of the both official languages.