Is interrogation of Minskers illegal?
The police have started a total interrogation of Minskers in connection with the explosion that took place on July 3. According to the police, the procedure will last as long as needed. According to Belarusian human rights activists and legal experts, such interrogation of Minsk inhabitants is not quite legal.
They usually visit flats in pairs. One policeman collects and notes down information and the other simply accompanies him. A visit to the flat of an ERB journalist Pavel Hiba was typical. Policemen knocked on his door on the morning of July 10 and asked to let them in and to answer some questions in connection with the explosion:
“I showed them to the kitchen and they asked me who I was and who I was living with. They noted down the birthdays of all my family and asked about our education. They also wondered where we were on July 3”.
The head of the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affaires Kanstantsin Shalkevich explained to ERB that the interrogation of Minskers may last for many days:
“The interrogation is being conducted all over Minsk. It will last as long as needed”.
According to a former investigator of the Office of Public Prosecutor and a human rights activist Ales Vouchak, the method of total interrogation of Minskers is illegal. However, you may be suspected of having organized the explosion if you do not let policemen in:
“Formally, policemen have the right to enter any flat and to conduct an interrogation. However, questions should not be asked in the flat. It should be done in the office of the investigator responsible for the case. This interrogation looks like collection of information about people’s opinion about the elections and the authorities. In my opinion, there is more political implication about it than attempts to find the real criminals”.
A human rights activist from the Belarusian Helsinki Committee Hary Pahanyaila gave an interview to ERB and expressed an opinion that the main goal of the interrogation conducted by the police was political investigation instead of criminal search:
“The police may have other tasks alongside with the interrogation. It is difficult to orient citizens because the majority of them are completely neutral to the events of July 3 and to the authorities in general. Probably, some of the people engaged in the interrogation will have lists of flats to be visited in any case in order to collect certain information”.
They usually visit flats in pairs. One policeman collects and notes down information and the other simply accompanies him. A visit to the flat of an ERB journalist Pavel Hiba was typical. Policemen knocked on his door on the morning of July 10 and asked to let them in and to answer some questions in connection with the explosion:
“I showed them to the kitchen and they asked me who I was and who I was living with. They noted down the birthdays of all my family and asked about our education. They also wondered where we were on July 3”.
The head of the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affaires Kanstantsin Shalkevich explained to ERB that the interrogation of Minskers may last for many days:
“The interrogation is being conducted all over Minsk. It will last as long as needed”.
According to a former investigator of the Office of Public Prosecutor and a human rights activist Ales Vouchak, the method of total interrogation of Minskers is illegal. However, you may be suspected of having organized the explosion if you do not let policemen in:
“Formally, policemen have the right to enter any flat and to conduct an interrogation. However, questions should not be asked in the flat. It should be done in the office of the investigator responsible for the case. This interrogation looks like collection of information about people’s opinion about the elections and the authorities. In my opinion, there is more political implication about it than attempts to find the real criminals”.
A human rights activist from the Belarusian Helsinki Committee Hary Pahanyaila gave an interview to ERB and expressed an opinion that the main goal of the interrogation conducted by the police was political investigation instead of criminal search:
“The police may have other tasks alongside with the interrogation. It is difficult to orient citizens because the majority of them are completely neutral to the events of July 3 and to the authorities in general. Probably, some of the people engaged in the interrogation will have lists of flats to be visited in any case in order to collect certain information”.
