Belarusians urged to surrender weapons for money
Everyone who brings in illegal guns to the police is relieved from responsibility. Those who submit legal weapons are even offered compensation in cash. Police General Mikalai Charhinets who currently serves as the chairman of the Foreign Relations and National Security Committee at the Council of the Republic, was offered money for his pistol. But he refused.
“I had a personal pistol. Definitely, I would always have service guns. Together with Interior Minister Uladzimir Navumau, I gave in my personal pistol and refused from compensation”, say Charhinets.
By the way, the interior minister publicly surrendered only one of his personal guns. He still keeps several more…
Mikalai Charhinets says that he has never made use of his personal weapon.
Today, the general has no weapons. He feels himself safe on the streets of Minsk. But former speaker of the Supreme Council, Stanislau Shushkevich sometimes keeps a gun in his pocket. He bought it out from the state after he finished the service and is not going to give it in.
“I still have my weapon. I have an official permit. Although they wanted to take it from me many times, they have failed. When I travel somewhere, I can put in into my pocket. This way, I feel more confident”, Shushkevich says.
Police General and formerly a speaker of the parliament, Mechyslau Hryb has surrendered his gun.
“I used to have a lot of guns, because I liked hunting. After I joined the opposition, I was proposed to submit those weapons for test firing. It is done in order to verify whether I am linked with a committed crime when it is committed. So they took it, but never gave it back”.
Today, Mechyslau Hryb does not regret that he has no weapons.
“I decided that it would not help. You just have a lot of troubles with these guns. When you carry a personal pistol, you always fear that it does not fire accidentally. You have to keep it on safety and put bullets into the chamber. This requires time, which could not be enough to use your weapon”.
According to Kanstantsin Shalkevich, the acting spokesman for the Interior Ministry, Belarusians submit an average of four guns on a daily basis.
“In 2007, people voluntarily surrendered 1313 unregistered guns, including 1128 firearms. Over 213,000 bullets were also voluntarily submitted”.
Photo: photosight.ru
