"I Wanted To Buy Champignons But Got To Temporary Detention Facility"
29- 9.10.2019, 15:36
- 49,490
The story about the lawlessness of the Mahiliou police.
Vital Tsitou, a resident of Mahiliou, asked Belsat journalists to help disseminate information about the illegal behavior of local law enforcers. The goal is to bring them to justice.
Vital Tsitou lives in Mahiliou and is engaged in stove craft. The man told belsat.eu about the situation that had happened to him in Mahiliou shopping center "Planet Green" on July 10. Vital came to the shop for mushrooms.
"The police came instead of the shop manager"
He was served with line cutting in the meat department. According to him, the saleswomen deliberately ignored Vital and sold goods to the buyers, who were behind him. The man expressed his indignation and made a comment.
"I said I had been waiting for about twenty minutes and they were serving people behind me. I asked to call the shop manager," - the Mahiliou resident says.
The man says he was talking at ease, not swearing and not shouting. However, the security head appeared instead of the manager. He tried to settle the conflict and invited the man to his room, Vital stresses.
"I didn't want to go because I didn't disturb public order. When he tried to drag me there, I said I was calling the law enforcement officers," - he says.
The Mahiliou resident notes that he wanted to leave a comment in the book of complaints, but did not even have time to finish it. The guard pressed the alarm button, after which the police arrived, and later - the local police officer.
"The security head, Kirpichou, called in law enforcement officers, but the call had to be explained. I was left with the police, and the guard with the policeman and the saleswomen went to the room of the security service. I was standing there waiting for three hours," - he says.
The policeman fabricated the case
Vital Tsitou is sure that Kirpichou persuaded the saleswomen to lie and testifies that he was using obscene language.
"This is how they wanted to get rid of me, under an administrative article. They told the Department of Security that I had broken the order and swore," - Vital adds.
The man has a witness, a resident of Mahiliou, Aleh Klimau, who was in the same line and observed the conflict. He told belsat.eu that Vital behaved properly, and the saleswomen lied.
"We don't know each other, I have no reason to lie. I told them what happened. If Vital had been swearing, I would have made a comment. The head of the security service behaved not nicely and started saying: "Now I'll show you who you are," - Aleh Klimau told belsat.eu.
Vital Tsitou says that despite the video from the surveillance camera and knowingly false testimony, Ruslan Antsutka, a district inspector of the Kastrychnitski district police department, ignored Aleh Klimau's testimony and drew up a report against Vital for petty hooliganism. Vital is sure that the security head and the policeman knew each other before the incident and did not hide their friendship.
"The policeman "runs protection" of the shop. He used his official authority and fabricated the case," - Vital Tsitou says.
"Bend over and spread your buttocks"
Finally, the man was taken to the temporary detention facility around 21:00 and held until morning. According to Vital, the road to the temporary detention facility took about three hours, he was taken from one police station to another. During that time his wife was not able to find him.
"She was told in the police station that I was in the pre-trial detention center, and in the pre-trial detention center - that I was not there, and the police department offered her to pay a fine of two basic units - and then I would be released. They even wanted to provide the account details. How is it possible, without trial, I was not even taken to the temporary detention facility," - the Mahiliou resident adds.
The man pays attention to unbearable conditions of detention.
"This is an insult and humiliation. You have to undress naked, then they ask you to bend over and spread the buttocks. I am a big man, and there is a child with a stick behind me. I am not a drinker, I was sent to the cell to the drunkards and bedbugs, it stank so much that it was impossible to breathe. And in the morning we were kicked out naked to the concrete floor again, and we had to spread our buttocks again," - Vital says.
A lot of complaints that were ignored
At the first trial, the man was offered a fine, but he wouldn't agree. At another trial, all the witnesses were summoned and they watched the video from the security camera. The judge decided to acquit Vital Tsitou.
The man wanted to bring the guard and the saleswomen to justice for perjury immediately at the hearing. However, the judge said that she had no right to initiate a criminal case, so it was necessary to contact the police.
Vital appealed to the Kastrychnitski district police department, the check-up was conducted by the same policeman who had detained the man. Ruslan Antsutka sent an answer to Mahiliou resident that there were no violations in the actions of the sellers and the guard.
Then the man went to the prosecutor's office, where he filed a complaint against the policeman. The office handed over the case ... to the Kastrychnitski district police department.
"It's a violation of the law. The Prosecutor's Office cannot forward the case to the body against which I filed a complaint. Of course, they will not punish themselves. I asked them to return the case and conduct a new inspection, but I was told that they were not able to. And then I found out that Antsutka's wife works in the Kastrychnitski district court of Mahiliou, where my case was considered," - Vital says.
At the same time, the police department offered Vital to come for a "conversation", but he did not agree. After that, he received a letter from the prosecutor's office explaining that they had the right to detain him for 72 hours during the administrative proceedings.
"It turns out that a person can be taken from the street for nothing, a case can be opened and he can be kept there for three days, while they are investigating whether you are guilty or not," - the interlocutor argues.
Now Vital is waiting for an answer from the Internal Security Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. If nothing is decided, the man plans to go to Minsk.
We have asked the Planet Green store and the Kastrychnitski district police department for comments
"I don't have to comment, I was on vacation. Everybody is working in their places," - Maksim Kavaliou, the head of the Planet Green grocery store, commented on the situation.
"I don't know anything about this case. Not about the trial, not about the claims against our employees. You probably have unreliable information," - Maksim Saradoyeu, deputy head of the Kastrychnitski district police department, commented on the situation.
