General Prosecutor’s Office admits passing pedestrians were detained on December 19
Ryhor Vasilevich has sympathized with those who were injured during the dispersal of the action on December 19, said that politicians had not complained about the conditions in the KGB detention centre and also supported the initiative to release the detained on recognizance. Attorney General Ryhor Vasilevich condoled with those who had been injured during the dispersal of the action on December 19 at a press conference in Minsk. However, he noted that it was necessary to take into account the fact that people attended an unauthorized meeting. The Attorney General stressed again that the people kept in the KGB detention centre had not complained about the impossibility to meet their lawyers. According to him, prosecutors conducted a corresponding check-up on December 31 and on January 24 and did not receive a single verbal or written complaint. Even the former candidates who had not seen their lawyers since December 27 did not complain.
Ryhor Vasilevich: “The people imprisoned in the detention centre did not lodge any complaints about the impossibility to meet lawyers. I even started looking for written complaints about it, for possible refusals to allow them to meet lawyers – then the refusals could have been appealed in court. I sent a letter to the head of KGB to take organization measures if such meetings were necessary”.
Ryhor Vasilevch introduced an employee of the General Prosecutor’s Office Andrei Pustashyla as a witness to journalists. He conducted the check-up in the KGB detention centre. He confirmed that neither the former candidates nor the other detained had lodged any complaints. He even noted that some people had thanked the administration of the KGB detention centre. However, he did not specify who had done it and why.
Vasilevich evaded the question whether the detained had been asked if they wanted to complain about the impossibility to meet their lawyers or only about the prison conditions.
Speaking about the possibility to change the measure of restraint, Vasilevich said that the General Prosecutor’s Office could not initiate it on its own. However, it will support the idea if the investigation initiates it. In particular, it concerns Iryna Halip.
Ryhor Vasilevich: “If the chief investigator initiates a change of the measure of restraint, we will support the suggestion. The measure of restraint may be changed to a more suitable one. However, as far as I know, the child is in his grandmother’s trusteeship now. It seems to me that the decision will be like this while the situation is like this. It allows us to think that the child is in her care”.
At the same time, the Attorney General claimed that he supported the idea that detentions as a measure of restraint had to be practiced less often and that he thought it was worth changing them to a release on recognizance, house arrest and so on. People waiting for their trials under house arrest should pay for the work of those who will be guarding them.
The Attorney General also claimed that there had been cases when innocent people were punished for participation in the unauthorized action on December 19.
Ryhor Vasilevich: “We have revealed a few cases when people who did not take part in the action were punished. The courts announced the administrative sentences to be illegal, and some of them did it of their own free will. There are not many cases of the kind – about 5 or 7. I received one complaint about it and we understood that the person mentioned there had not taken part in the event and had been subjected to administrative responsibility illegally”.
He advised that everyone who wanted to complain about court’s decisions and actions of special services that tapped their phones had to send their complaints to the Office of the Public Prosecutor. However, it was not clear whether judges would be subjected to responsibility for illegal sentences.
Answering Euroradio’s question, Ryhor Vasilevich said that the investigation of the case concerning the mass disorders of December 19 could result in a hearing about the legality of the actions of the officials who had given orders to police troops in the Square.
Ryhor Vasilevich: “Speaking about officials’ responsibility, about the correspondence of their actions to the law, we should wait for the investigation results. If the case is sent to court, it will depend on the court’s decision. It will depend on the fact whether they will be returned guilty or not. It should be decided according to the norms of the Criminal Code and other acts of law”.
Let us remind you that Anatol Kulyashou, the Minister of Internal Affairs, assumed the responsibility for special services’ actions on December 19. According to the Minister, it was him who gave the order to disperse and detain demonstrators.
Photo by: Zmitser Lukashuk
Ryhor Vasilevich: “The people imprisoned in the detention centre did not lodge any complaints about the impossibility to meet lawyers. I even started looking for written complaints about it, for possible refusals to allow them to meet lawyers – then the refusals could have been appealed in court. I sent a letter to the head of KGB to take organization measures if such meetings were necessary”.
Ryhor Vasilevch introduced an employee of the General Prosecutor’s Office Andrei Pustashyla as a witness to journalists. He conducted the check-up in the KGB detention centre. He confirmed that neither the former candidates nor the other detained had lodged any complaints. He even noted that some people had thanked the administration of the KGB detention centre. However, he did not specify who had done it and why.
Vasilevich evaded the question whether the detained had been asked if they wanted to complain about the impossibility to meet their lawyers or only about the prison conditions.
Speaking about the possibility to change the measure of restraint, Vasilevich said that the General Prosecutor’s Office could not initiate it on its own. However, it will support the idea if the investigation initiates it. In particular, it concerns Iryna Halip.
Ryhor Vasilevich: “If the chief investigator initiates a change of the measure of restraint, we will support the suggestion. The measure of restraint may be changed to a more suitable one. However, as far as I know, the child is in his grandmother’s trusteeship now. It seems to me that the decision will be like this while the situation is like this. It allows us to think that the child is in her care”.
At the same time, the Attorney General claimed that he supported the idea that detentions as a measure of restraint had to be practiced less often and that he thought it was worth changing them to a release on recognizance, house arrest and so on. People waiting for their trials under house arrest should pay for the work of those who will be guarding them.
The Attorney General also claimed that there had been cases when innocent people were punished for participation in the unauthorized action on December 19.
Ryhor Vasilevich: “We have revealed a few cases when people who did not take part in the action were punished. The courts announced the administrative sentences to be illegal, and some of them did it of their own free will. There are not many cases of the kind – about 5 or 7. I received one complaint about it and we understood that the person mentioned there had not taken part in the event and had been subjected to administrative responsibility illegally”.
He advised that everyone who wanted to complain about court’s decisions and actions of special services that tapped their phones had to send their complaints to the Office of the Public Prosecutor. However, it was not clear whether judges would be subjected to responsibility for illegal sentences.
Answering Euroradio’s question, Ryhor Vasilevich said that the investigation of the case concerning the mass disorders of December 19 could result in a hearing about the legality of the actions of the officials who had given orders to police troops in the Square.
Ryhor Vasilevich: “Speaking about officials’ responsibility, about the correspondence of their actions to the law, we should wait for the investigation results. If the case is sent to court, it will depend on the court’s decision. It will depend on the fact whether they will be returned guilty or not. It should be decided according to the norms of the Criminal Code and other acts of law”.
Let us remind you that Anatol Kulyashou, the Minister of Internal Affairs, assumed the responsibility for special services’ actions on December 19. According to the Minister, it was him who gave the order to disperse and detain demonstrators.
Photo by: Zmitser Lukashuk
