Traffic police probably used ‘live shield’ on October 7
The European Radio for Belarus has learned that four months ago the traffic police possibly used the tactics of a ‘live shield’ when they were trying to make a speeding Peugeot driver at the ring-road and Lahoisk highway junction. This information was provided by Stanislau who was injured in that accident.
“It happened on October 7, 2007 at the flyover on Lahoisk highway. I don’t remember exactly how many civilian vehicles were stopped by the traffic police. There were at least six damaged cars. I can’t say exactly because there were many cars standing in front of me. I was making a turn to Lahoyski Trakt Street, while the ring road was blocked by vehicles. Frankly, I remember badly the whole accident, because my car received such a strong hit, that I regained consciousness only in an ambulance”, Stanislau narrates.
According to Stanislau, the officers who stopped his vehicle did not come up to explain why they ordered him to stop. They would not tell him to get off his car, either.
“We were not allowed to get off. Just one minute after I stopped, with the engine still running, my vehicle was hit. That was it”.
Stanislau’s car was so badly damaged that it could not be repaired. An insurance company estimated the damage worth of Br 2 million.
The victim of the live shield had a complex fracture of his leg and still uses crutches. His girlfriend who seated next to Stanislau sustained numerous bruises and cuts.
“Now I am getting a bit better, but I still have to get about on crutches. The girl had many bruises and had to be stitched”.
According to Stanislau, the speeding driver was sentenced to two years for driving without a license and under influence of alcohol and creating a dangerous situation on the road.
When asked by the European Radio for Belarus, why he and other victims decided to approach lawyer Vera Stramkouskaya only now, Stanislau said:
“When I was in a hospital, I had various complications. It was very painful, and I also had many operations. I was only thinking about my recovery and getting discharged as soon as possible”.
Presently, the participants of the live shield are collecting documents in order to prove that the traffic police used a live shield for stopping the drunk driver.
“We need to talk to the investigator about the case file. I guess the traffic police should be keeping the accident sketch. We will probe where all this paperwork is kept now”.
The European Radio for Belarus approached the traffic police officials in order to confirm if this accident indeed took place. But Yury Litvin, the chief of the National Road Patrol Authority, says he hears about it for the first time.
“I can’t explain anything about this accident, because I don’t have this information”, he said.
Zhana Traino, a spokeswoman for the Minsk City Police Department, has no information about the accident on October 7 on Lahoiski Trakt, either.
“I don’t know what accident you are talking about”.
She advised to file complaints against traffic police inspectors to the internal security department.
The Interior Ministry’s web site posted no information about the accident at the ring-road junction in the first decade of October. We will continue investigating the developments associated with this accident…
