Trials against Likhavid, Dashkevich and Lobau (UPDATED)

Dashkevich/Lobau trial.

17:25 The judge Shylko declined the appeal to check Harbachova’s telephone conversations within the time period since 16.00 till 16.40 on December 18, claiming that Harbachova could not lie.

17:16 “Even if it was Lobau’s blood, how can this affect the accusation?” – the judge has asked.

Ausiannikava says that it will give the court grounds to consider that the so-called “casualties” attacked Lobau and Dashkevich, and injured Lobau’s lip.

17:10 The public prosecutor says there are no grounds to distrust the witnesses. Thus, there is no necessity to conduct additional investigation. The same concerns medical expertise.

17:06 Characteristics of Lobau and Dashkevich have been attached to the case materials.

17:03 Marianna Semeshka supports Ausiannikava’s appeal on medical expertise for Edward Lobau.

Marianna Semeshka also demands to check whether Malyshau and Savitski have ever been subjected to criminal or administrative responsibility. She also asks to check incoming phone calls on the number 102 in the evening on December 18.

16:59 Lawyer Alena Ausiannikava claims that Edward Lobau did not go through medical expertise, although there had been a tampon with traces of 1^st group blood on it. It is unknown whose blood it was.

16:58 Studying of the case materials is over.

16:17 The conclusion of the medical expertise on Savitski’s beating is dated December 26, while the incident happened on December 18.

16:10 Interrogation of witnesses is over, the court proceeds to consideration of the written case materials.

15:52 Malyshau has asked from behind the wall whether lazar realizes that he might be subjected to responsibility for false evidence. – The same as you, - Lazar replies. The audience applauses.


15:42 Lazar explained the Mayor in the police department that he was not guilty. The police officers who detained them did not participate in this.

15:40 According to Lazar, the policemen treated him, Dashkevich and Lobau as detainees from the very start. They did nothing to Malyshau; as for Savitski, he did not see him at all.

15:33 Lazar is convinced that Malyshau hit Dashkevich first. He also saw Savitski making an attempt to hit Lobau. 

Likhavid trial.

17:20 The lawyer asks Bahdanau how he arrested people. The witness says he does not remember from where he drove the detainees and where to.

17:05 The lawyer continues to interrogate Bahdanau, but he doesn’t answer to the majority of questions. He gets confused when they speak about what he did in the Square, when and where. “There were such conditions that a minute seemed a half an hour”, - he explains.

16:55 The lawyer has asked the witness which actions performed by Mikita Likhavid he saw in the Independence Square. He does not answer, claiming that he saw Likhavid only in the police department.

16:45 A witness Aliaksandr Bahdanau is summoned for interrogation. He is a riot police driver.

16:35 Karouka is the only casualty who confirmed the fact of massacres. Other riot policemen did not see any. Karouka claims he saw people breaking windows, throwing garbage bins around.

16:33 The lawyer asked Karouka where the video tape, which he recorded in the Independence square, is. 

He could not answer whom he gave it. He says he does not remember.

16:26 The lawyer asks the casualty Karouka whether he saw Likhavid near the broken doors of the House of Government. Karouka moved freely across the Square and could have seen the accused, in theory. However, he couldn’t say whether he saw him or not.

16:14 When the action was over Karouka noticed that his nose was broken. He addressed to the doctors and was put to hospital for 4 days. He saw no ice-breakers or armature.

15:58 Next casualty – Jauhen Karouka.

He was in plain clothes on December 19. He was waiting for the demonstration to start near McDonald’s. When the rally reached him he went to the Independence Square together with the crowd. He says he was supposed to record violations of law, in civil clothes.

He was conducting operative video-filming; he had a video-camera with him. He says that people felt hostility towards him at a certain moment and somebody hit him by the head – Karouka even lost consciousness for a while.

15:39 Next casualty – Dzmitry Mikhalou.

He saw no weapons whatsoever. He only saw traces of powder fire extinguisher on the riot policemen.

15:32 The judge has reprimanded the lawyer for repeating her questions to the casualty several times.

15:22 New casualty.

He says that when a column of the riot policemen was moving he lost his helmet and was hit in the head by a piece of ice or a stone, thrown by some demonstrator. Then he found the helmet and put it back on his head.

Likhavid asked Hushcha why some policemen hear well through the helmet, and some not. He answered it is connected with the settings.

14:51 The judge starts interrogating Leanid Hushcha.

He says that he saw the ice-breaker in the square only after the crowd had been dispersed. He saw no objects in the demonstrators’ hands.

The casualty says that the crowd behaved aggressively – they threatened policemen and used physical violence. However, he refused to declare the names of the riot policemen, against whom the demonstrators used physical violence. He says that the people were trying to break through to the St. Symon and Alena Catholic Church, for some reasons unknown to him.

13:46 A break announced till 14.45

Dashkevich/Lobau trial

15:21 Lazar says he remembered Malyshau very well, as it was him who hit Dashkevich in the stomach.

Savitski attacked Lobau at that very time. Someone kicked Lazar in the leg and it was very painful. He even failed to notice who did it as everything happened very fast.

15:06 Dzianis Lazar is summoned for interrogation. He was arrested together with Dashkevich and Lobau but then released.

 
14:56 Marachkou is saying that Dashkevich was trying to prove that he was an opposition activists and that they would burn the President’s residence without him.

14:54 Marachkou answers “I don’t remember” to the absolute majority of questions.

14:49 He says that Savitski complained about his physical condition from the start. He claimed he had been hit by a crowbar. He says that a patrol and a police car arrived to the incident site simultaneously.

According to Marachkou, Dashkevich did not resist.

14:32 Marachkou says he saw two people fighting at the incident site. He arrived there together with his commander Milinets.

Marachkou says that he saw one man lying on the ground and another one holding him. The one who was holding said that he had detained the attacker.

14:27 Trail has been resumed after the break.

A witness Victar Marachkou has appeared. He is a riot policeman.

13:40 A break has been announced till 14.15.

Likhavid trial.

13:09 Next casualty – Vasil Lisouski. He did not see any weapons on the demonstrators – only bottles with water. He cannot say anything about the massacres either. He does not know Likhavid and did not see him in the Square. He confirms other casualties’ words that internal troops forced people off the square. Riot police only divided the crowd into several parts.

12:59 Likhavid asked a question to the riot policeman. He is interested how the casualty could possibly get a blow in the right knee if the riot policemen were moving in two rows, and the casualty was moving in the left one. The riot policeman says he cannot give an exact answer. He thinks that the demonstrators could throw some object which flew through the row of riot policemen and hit him in the knee. After this answer the judge, the public prosecutor and the lawyer also got interested in the incident’s details.

12:42 A riot policeman Vadzim Smirnou is giving testimony. He informs that the demonstrators were shouting “bad slogans – “Leave!”.

12:39 Paraj saw only wooden sticks and rods with the demonstrators. He heard no appeals to leave. He says he was in the Independence square from 10 p.m. till 3 a.m. After the dispersal he sat in the auto transport. Paraj has told what he saw at the steps of the House of Government: "When I approached it, about 10 people were finishing breaking glass in the windows. Photographers surrounded them, trying to take a picture of the broken glass".

12:28 Casualty Hushchyk saw no massacres or arsons, has no claims against Likhavid – he did not see him in the Square. Siarhej Paraj will give testimony next.

12:21 A mobile phone of a riot policeman, who is sitting in the first row, suddenly started ringing loudly. The judge reprimanded him for this and ordered to turn the phone off. “But it is turned off”, - he replied.

12.08 Hushchyk has told like the riot police went to the Independence Square for the first time. According to him, they were trying to protect the doors of the House of Government and ran onto the porch very fast. However, the porch was very slippery and many policemen slipped on it and crashed into the crowd of demonstrators on their own shields. Siarhej Hushchyk has told that he was hit by an ice-breaker (a special tool aimed at breaking ice on the pavement), after which he fell down.

12.05 Casualty Siarhej Hushchyk is being interrogated. Riot policeman, a commander of one of the special troops department. He says that he got orders to move between the Independence square and the residence of the state leader.

12.02 Casualty Tarasevich, as well as his colleagues before, asked the judge to let him go after the interrogation. The judge Pykina reacted emotionally: “All of you will leave if it goes on like this! Who’ll stay? You can ask for being let go from the trial only in exceptional cases”. However, she did let him go.

11.57 Casualties – riot policemen fell asleep. There is silence in the hall, unlike yesterday, when the judge calmed down the policemen thrice. They were laughing at their colleagues’ testimonies.

11.50 Casualty Tarasevich is being interrogated. He tells that first he guarded Lukashenka’s residence. Then they were ordered to move to the House of Government and force the demonstrators off the building.

11.07 Casualty Andrej Palavinkin is being interrogated. He is a riot policeman, as all the other casualties. Palavinkin has said right from the start that he saw Likhavid for the first time yesterday. Palavinkin was in plain clothes in the Square – he followed the order of his bosses. He has told an interesting fact – he was ordered to go straight to the Independence square, not to the Kastrychnitskaya Square first, to watch the demonstrators – what they carried, what they were wearing etc.

11.05 Perapejka saw no facts of armed resistance in the Square, “Nasha Niva” reports.

 Lawyer Darya Lipkina trying to find out how long the casualty Perapejka stayed in the Independence square on December 19 and what the last orders received by him were. The riot policeman does not answer. He says he was “very emotional” then. The lawyer asked why he failed to undergo medical expertise. “I got no official summons. Why should I go there by myself? 3 months passed, there are no traces on me. Why should I go there? – he replied.

Dashkevich/Lobau trial

13:04 He says that he arrived as soon as he had heard information about the fight via radio-station. “There is no stability – I can patrol in one place today, and move to another place tomorrow”, - the witness says. His testimony does not differ much from the ones of his colleagues.

12:58 Tozik’s partner policeman Ihar Ziankevich starts giving testimony.

12:32 Witness Tozik says it was not him who defined the casualties, but the commander of the troop.

12:25 Tozik claims that Savistki had a discussion and there was blood on his face. He adds he did not know who Dashkevich and Lobau were and what they did.

12:16 Tozik says he was on duty in the Maskouski district that day. He got a call that a fight was taking place somewhere nearby. Tozik arrived to the incident site by foot, and saw several people struggling. Tozik detained Edward Lobau. “Lobau and Savitski were rolling in snow”, - Tozik says. He added that Savitski was handcuffed as he behaved rudely, while Lobau was quiet.

12:12 Witness Victar Marachkou failed to appear in court, as he needed to take his child to the doctor. Andrej Tozik, a riot policeman of Minsk city executive committee’s special police troops, is being interrogated now.

11:58 Dashkevich: "Every word said by Karavy today is an absolute truth".

11:54 Karavy: "Now I know that I would better just go by and give no evidence whatsoever". Sviatlana Harbachova does not recognize Karavy.

11:52 Witness Karavy claims there were no hits by the crowbar. There is a mistake in the interrogation protocol.

11:47 Karavy says that many things in his testimony were recorded incorrectly. He read his interrogation protocol “not clearly enough”.

11.44 The judge Alena Shylko asks why Karavy failed to inform during the preliminary interrogation that the man above was beating the man below. “It was a very brief interrogation”, - the witness says. He was interrogated only a month after the incident.

11.34 Karavy says that he used no alcohol on that day. The lawyer Ausiannikava asks whether anyone told him: “Get lost, we’ll figure everything out by ourselves”. “Yes, there might have been such words”. He doesn’t remember blood on anyone’s face. “If there was blood, I would have noticed it”.

11.11Karavy says that detention happened very quickly. “They put an armlock on everyone”. He confirms that one man had a red crowbar in his hands. The man with a crowbar was walking in the opposite direction from the man who was lying on the ground. He approached the lying people. The man who was above picked up his telephone and tried to call someone.

Trial against Likhavid.

10.50 Perapejka has told the following to the public prosecutor: “When we were going from the St. Symon and Alena Catholic Church, one of the demonstrators tripped me up, and another one pushed me in the back. I fell. Then they started beating me with their fists and feet. My colleagues defended me. The demonstrators threatened me with a reprisal; they called me a fascist, calling different slogans at the same time, including “Long Live Belarus!”

10.46 An injured riot policeman of the special troops of Minsk city executive committee Vital Perapejka is being interrogated. It is worth mentioning that the secretary checks documents of all the casualties, like yesterday. Mikita Likhavid’s lawyer Darya Lipkina insisted that their IDs should be checked.

10.45 The lawyer Lipkina tries to clarify whether the casualty Masalski saw any weapons in the demonstrators’ arms, like axes or metallic rods. He says he saw nothing of the kind, he only saw fire.

10.38 Mikita Likhavid looks as bouncy as yesterday. He has sat closer to the edge of the cage in order to see the people in the hall. There are less riot policemen today and this has allowed his mother to sit several rows closer to her son. Mikita’s relatives and friends are also there. They have occupied the fourth row – the closest row allowed by the secretary.

10.30 Decrease of the number of riot policemen in the hall positively affected the discipline – it is quiet and every word is clearly heard. However, some casualties are falling asleep. It is obvious that taking part in a court trial is not their favourite thing to do.

10.23 Injured policeman Masalski has started giving testimony: “I saw fire. I cannot say for sure what was burning but I saw fire. While I was looking at it, someone dragged me out of the chain. There were 3-4 people. They hit the shield with something heavy – I think it was a stick - and kicked it”.


Dashkevich/Lobau trial

10:55 Karavy also thinks that the fight happened on Sunday, December 19. He was going home from work and heard cries “Help!”. He saw a man lying on the ground and the one who was on him was “trying to beat him”, hit him several times, and the man who was lying “was trying to resist”. “He did all he could not to be beaten”. There was one more man nearby. “He beat no one in my presence”. The man on the ground asked to call the police. Judging from yesterday’s trial, it was Dashkevich.

10.51 Jury Karavy is giving testimony. He works as a car mechanic, originally from Berazino, lives in Sapeha Street in Minsk – near Yanka Bryl Street. He witnessed the incident.

10.16 Trial against Likhavid. The trial has started from the interrogation of the injured policeman Dzmitry Liavitski. He says that his neighbour fell on him during the mop-up operation and hit him in the face, and that his elbow also was hurt. He does not think he was injured because of mass disturbances. Probably, the investigator wrote that he had been hit on purpose, afterwards.

Trial against Dashkevich and Lobau

10. 30 Harbachova is convinced that the incident happened on Sunday, December 19.

10. 24 Harbachova says there were no cries for help. She saw no metallic objects in anyone's hands. She also saw no blood, "Nasha Niva"reports.

10.12 Interrogation of witnesses has started. Sviatlana Harbachova, born in 1963, a policewoman, is giving testimony.

Harbachova witnessed that she saw 6-7 people fighting in the yard at the address Yanka Bryl Street, 24 on December 18. Two of them were lying on their stomachs on the ground; the other two were holding them. She called the police and left.

She heard no cries for help or appeals to call the police. She cannot describe the participants of the conflict in details; she does not remember what they were wearing. She also does not remember when she was summoned for the first interrogation on their case.

10.10 Trial against Zmitser Dashkevich and Edward Lobau has been resumed. The casualties are in the room behind the back of the judge Shylko.

10.00 Dashkevich/Lobau trial: people have been admitted to the court hall. The "Young Front" members managed to get to the trial, alongside with relatives, international observers and journalists.

10.00 Trial against Mikita Likhavid has been resumed. Less policemen then it should be have come to the trial. An OSCE observer, human rights defenders Liudmila Hraznova and Valiantsin Stefanovich are in the hall,  Radio Liberty informs.


The judge Natallia Pykina is considering Mikita Likhavid's case. Darya Lipkina defends him.

Likhavid is accused of participation in mass disturbances.

The "Young Front" leaders Zmitser Dashkevich and Edward Lobau are accused of malicious hooliganism - they allegedly beat accidental passers-by in Yanka Bryl Street in Minsk.

Lawyers Marianna Semeshka and Alena Ausiannikava defend Zmitser Dashkevich and Edward Lobau. The judge Alena Shylko considers the case. The public prosecutor is Mr. Mazouka.