Conflict near Minsk Sea: man on crutches found not guilty, woman gets fine

The woman who was protecting the topless woman received a fine of 30 base units (5.4 million). Her husband was acquitted. Minsk District Court reviewed the case about the fight of the riot police and bathers on the beach.

The accident happened on the 8th of August. It began with the police coming to the middle-aged woman, who was sunbathing topless, lying on her stomach. Other swimmers began to defend her.

According to the police, the people openly obstructed the work of the law enforcement officers to conduct the administrative process: they surrounded the policemen, clinging to the uniform and recording video. The people involved in the incident claimed that the actions of riot police were unjust, cruel and were accompanied by obscene language.

A video was posted on the Internet, which shows how the police knocked down ... a man on crutches, and held down his wife. Either from the blow, or jolt she fell to the ground.

Both of them were taken away in an ambulance after the confrontation. However, Valery (the man on crutches) and his wife Anna are also medics.

In early October, the Minsk District court ruled on the administrative case, which was filed after the incident on the beach.

The married couple was accused of "interfering in the administrative case" and "disobeying a police officer."

"The court's decision will be appealed by us and the police. Our side is convinced that Anna is also innocent. Police believe that I was unjustly acquitted, and his wife should be given an even greater penalty," says Valery to Euroradio.

The cassation appeal will be reviewed in the Minsk regional court. The exact date is still unknown.

As Euroradio was preparing the article about the scandalous incident at the Minsk Sea, there appeared information about the special police officer Aleh A. who used force against the couple. It turned out that the officer had already held Hanna liable for drinking alcohol in a public place. The woman claimed that the bottle had been planted, and the whole thing ended with protocol getting canceled.

And in 2011 the same Aleh A. "got spotted" in Krupki, which in one night in different parts of the city were detained 48 people. At one of the hearings the chairman of the court caught him on inconsistencies. The person against whom the policeman gave evidence, was acquitted.

Asked by Euroradio, Interior Minister Ihar Shunevich said that at the Minsk Sea the police acted "according to the law", but not "in the spirit of the law." For this they have been subjected to criticism ....

"They broke no law. Of course, all was not without flaws. In this case, according to our experts, the officers showed no proper police intelligence. Elements of unprofessionalism were there. For this, they will be criticized, analyzed, trained and so on," said Ihar Shunevich.

Minsk regional department of the Investigative Committee is looking into whether the riot police used physical force legally during the incident. Information on the investigation and its results is yet to come.

Both Valery and Hanna are thinking whether to file a case for slander, which they see in the actions of one of the officials of the Department of Internal Affairs of Minsk City Executive.

"The media reported that Hanna was held liable for drinking alcohol on the beach. But at the time the protocol had been cancelled. It turns out that a person was accused of something he had not done," stressed Valery.

Euroradio will report on new twists and turns of the story.