Did riot militiamen break Zmitser Barodka’s nose when beating?

• 10.09.2009, 9:50

The “European Belarus” activist and other detained spent the night in a jail in Akrestsin Street.

Zmitser Barodka and other demonstrators were guarded to the Tsentralny district court of Minsk. Journalists could see the activist had the broken nose, swollen face, bruises.

Nevertheless, doctors were not allowed to examine the arrested demonstrators in the militia department. The opposition activists, who were standing near the department, called an ambulance.

Zmitser Bandarenka, the arrested coordinator of “European Belarus” managed to tell www.charter97.org that many people had been beaten by riot militiamen and needed medical aid.

“We were beaten during the detention on the square and then in a militia bus on the way to the department. They kicked people, stoke their heads with batons. Some activists were handcuffed. Viktar Ivashkevich is beaten up, Zmitser Barodka’s face is bleeding. Some are semiconscious. I had five blows at my head. Riot militiamen and officers of the Tsentralny district militia department refuse to call doctors. They treat the demonstrator like animals,” Zmitser Bandarenka said.