She bit the policewoman in return, now, she faces 6 years in prison
4 September 2020, 11:05 | TUT.BY
A pharmacist from Hrodna, 55-year-old Marina Polikarpova was arrested on 9 August. According to her, she was beaten severely by police officers. A criminal case was later opened against her because she bit a female police officer, reports Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). Marina also filed a police report with the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus, but no case against those who had beaten her has yet been opened.
Marina Nikolaevna is a 55 years old pharmacist. She says that on the evening of 9 August, she and her brother were strolling through downtown Hrodna. They did not participate in the protest, nor did she have any protest paraphernalia on her. They were in a park near Savetskaya Square, away from the main events.
“Around that time, the riot police received an order. Suddenly their whole chain took out handcuffs, rushed the people in the square, and started beating them. I got scared. Behind me stood a policeman in a helmet; he didn’t run. I said, ‘I’m afraid something is starting here. Where should I go? How can I exit? I am here by accident. May I walk through the park?’ He told me, ‘No you may not.’ ‘Where can I go?’ He pointed to the trolleybus stop. I went there and saw a vehicle. It wasn’t a police truck, just a bus.
A man in plain clothes immediately pulled me into the bus and started yelling, ‘Give me your passport! We’ll write a police report on you. You’ll be fined 20 or 25 penalty units.’ I got scared, but went into the bus without resisting. I thought he was going to take me to the police station.
He drove along Savetskaya Street. There was another vehicle, not a police one, just a bus. He told me to move to that one. I did. Two young women in plain clothes and medical masks were inside. A man wearing a police uniform sat in the front.
Right now I can’t recall exactly how the conversation about my passport started in this vehicle. One of the women said something like, ‘You must be living in Poland.’ I answered, ‘Here is my passport; you can see where I live. I was actually told to give you my passport because you are going to write a report. So should I give it to you or not?’
She [one of the young women in plain clothes and medical mask] replied, ‘Shut your f*** mouth, b***!’
I was like a deer in the headlights. I said, ‘What is this? You are women. Why do you behave like that? You are on duty. Why are you swearing? Have I done something?’ They did not like what I was saying. They started punching and kicking me. The first blows were to my shoulder and hip to push me down on the seat.
Then I said to them politely, ‘I’m sorry, but if you are beating me, identify yourself, so I know who is beating me. I’m going to get a forensic exam tomorrow, and I will have to tell them who beat me.’ ‘Hahaha! I’m Masha Lukashenka, and I am Nastya Lukashenka.’ ‘What does Lukashenka have to do with all this?’ ‘If you don’t shut up, we’ll handcuff you.’ ‘Ok, handcuff me if I am such a threat.’
They handcuffed me, and one handcuff got unfastened. I blurted out, ‘You can’t even put on handcuffs properly.’
‘Oh, so you don’t like being handcuffed in the front! We’ll do it the way you like it.’ They began pummeling me indiscriminately. They broke my face. I had glasses on; I was wounded. Then, I tried to cover my face because I work at a pharmacy. How can I go to work with my face all bruised? I didn’t think at this point that I would be jailed for three days.
They needed to twist my arms up behind my back. One of the young women started choking me. I dropped my head. Who would let someone choke them? So I bit her on the hand.
Both of them tried to restrain me, and they finally did it. They called someone, ‘Vitya!’ He punched me on top of my head–bam! I couldn’t move my neck for three days after. He fastened my handcuffs so that they bruised my wrists. They ripped my hair clip out. Looking like that they took me to Dubko [Lenin district police department in Hrodna] and kept me handcuffed for three hours.
Arrested men who were already there started shouting, ‘Have you no conscience? Take the handcuffs off this woman!’”
Polikarpova was arrested for participating in a protest. She spent three days in jail. An ambulance was called twice to take the woman to the hospital because she complained of nausea, lightheadedness, high blood pressure, and neck pain. The hospital said there was no concussion or fractures and sent her back to the police station.
She was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of her time. From Hrodna, she was transported to Shchuchin. According to her, she was given food and a mattress only on the third day. There was no water or toilet in the cell.
Later, a criminal case was opened against Marina. She was charged with violence against police officers (Art. 364 of the Criminal Code). According to the order of police custody, she bit police warrant officer Darya Bondarchuk on the hand and hit police warrant officer Marya Mazurkevich on the head.
“At the official confrontation between plaintiffs and defendant, my attorney asked police officer Bondarchuk, ‘Where are your injuries? I don’t see any. But Marina Nikolayevna is all black and blue.’ The other one [Marya Mazurkevich] said that I scratched her forehead.”
Source: Ministry of Internal Affairs
Marina Polikarpova is facing six years in prison under this article of the Criminal Code.
She also filed a police report seeking to press charges against the police officers who beat her. Two weeks have passed, but she has not received any response to the filed police report.
