Precedent: Dzianis proves he did not swear in Kastrychnitskaya Square

Dzianis Suchkou was detained at night on June 20 together with his friend, near the House of Officers. According to Andrej Suchkou, Dzianis' brother, the youngsters were not only detained without any explanations, but handcuffed for no reason.

Andrej Suchkou: “A police van just stopped nearby, they took my brother and his friend, handcuffed them and drove to the police department. There they executed charges and tried to force the guys sign them, but they refused. My brother was unexpectedly sent to medical examination, although there was no need for this as he had not driven a car. So, they were accused of breaking Article 17.1 - "hooliganism", they wrote "bad swearing in the protocol. The policemen who drove nearby allegedly warned them but they did not listen, so the policemen took them to the police department”.

As the youngsters committed no offences, they decided to defend their rights in court.

Andrej Suchkou: “We consulted with the lawyers and human right defenders that we knew, they prompted us which articles we should refer to, we made a report to the protocol and filed it to the court as an appeal. My brother’s wife, as well as the wife of his friend, who was detained together with him, spoke in court as witnesses. The policemen had no questions to him, only to my brother for some reason. Also, our partners who work with us as legal entities prepared recommendatory letters. We filed all these documents to the court. The court interrogated our witnesses, listened to the accusation, and came to the conclusion that the policemen committed illegal actions”.

Moreover, according to Andrej it was the judge who had advised them to appeal to the public prosecutor's office.

Andrej Suchkou: “The judge himself recommended that if we wanted to pursue this case further we should address to the public prosecutor's office with regard to illegal use of force etc.”.

Euroradio: “Do you plan to appeal to the public prosecutor's office?"

Andrej Suchkou: “Yes, we do. The point is, the copy of the court's decision will be ready only in a week. We are waiting for this copy as we need to have all the documents with us”.

This case differs from detentions at the silent protest actions on June 22 and 29 only by the fact there was no action at the moment and the detention was conducted by the policemen in uniform, not by suspicious people in plain clothes. All the rest is very similar. However, lawyer Harry Pahaniayla advises not to resist during detention procedure, and to start defending one's rights in the police department, in both cases. 

Harry Pahaniayla: “It's better to quietly obey, and to start resisting when they make a protocol, and suggest you should give explanations. The so-called "offender" should claim that he was detained illegally, that the protocol was fake and he did not swear in public”.

The next step is to repeat all this in court. In case the court does not listen, it is reasonable to appeal its decision in the higher instance.