“I asked warrant officer to use stun gun on me”

Barysau District Court is considering warrant officer Ihar Hishchanka’s case. He is accused of insulting soldiers, power abuse and bribery. Unexpectedly, almost all of the 18 victims are saying that they were not humiliated by his actions.

Alyaksei Sharlan: “It was not real humiliation. It was definitely better that a day on duty.”

Anton Prybytkin: “To tell you the truth, I did not like being on duty. Getting hit on the butt is better,” TUT.BY quotes the young men as saying

"I did not know what an electric shock was like. I wanted to try it”

It seemed very strange and Euroradio decided to talk to former soldier Sh. The warrant officer is accused of having used a stun gun on him. We were really surprised to learn the victim’s opinion:

I myself asked him to do it.

Euroradio: Did you ask him to use a stun gun on yourself?!

Do you want to try sky jumping or diving with sharks? Yes, it sounds absurd but I did. Children are studying the world around them, they are interested in everything. I had never experienced an electric shock, I wanted to try it. You may think that I am crazy.

Euroradio: How did it feel?

— Nothing scary, just a short-time pain. Nothing that could really injure me.

"It was not humiliating or insulting to us”

Euroradio:  What were soldiers ‘punished’ for? What did they do to make the warrant officer hit them with a button made of rolled newspapers?

— It may sound crazy to you but I would say that it was more like a joke. There was no hatred. A radical measure? I do not think so because there was no hatred. There are other methods, you can be sent on duty but I would rather be hit with newspapers on the butt. Most of my fellow soldiers did not see anything bad about it either.

Euroradio: Why did the warrant officer beat you instead of sending you on duty?

— It was not beating! Look: when he was not jailed, we could easily go out and smoke together after the confrontation in court. It was not humiliating or insulting.

Euroradio: But some soldiers did not like it…

— The ones who were angry looking at it from the peak of their eminence. Who are they? I cannot even imagine who it could be… maybe only one or two persons.

Euroradio: What is your attitude to this situation? Be unbiased. A warrant officer is beatng a soldier. What do you think?

— It is inadmissible. But if a warrant officer beats a solder and the solder can normally communicate with his afterwards, what can be wrong? They are missing the point.

"Being on duty or mopping the floor and cleaning the toilets would have insulted me”

Euroradio:  Do you think the army should be like this?

— No, of cause it is wrong.

Euroradio: Why are you defending the warrant officer then?

— It was not beating or swearing…

Euroradio: Didn’t it insult you?

— Being on duty or mopping the floor and cleaning the toilets would have insulted me. The army is done when there is no discipline. It was a means of upbringing. Has your ever mother strapped you? There is no mother in the army. Those who keep the discipline are your mother for 18 months.

It may be difficult to understand for some people but I am not the only one saying it. It is better to be hit on the butt with newspapers then to go clean the toilets. Had he sent us on duty instead, I would have had a bad opinion about him. But I have a good opinion despite the fact that the law and some people do not allow such actions.

Euroradio: If your child found himself in the same situation, would you ignore it?

— “The statute says that we need to endure all difficulties and be ready to sacrifice out lives to fulfill our duty. It means that we should not complain to our parents whenever something happens. The army needs to bring people up, to make them stronger. Our opinions just differ.

Ihar Hishchanka is accused of repeated bribery (part 1, article 430), insulting subordinates during army service (article 444), power abuse (part 1, article 455), power abuse combined with violence (part 2, article 455) and attempts at power abuse (part 1, article 14 and part 2, article 455).

He may be jailed for a few months for insulting solders and imprisoned for 3-10 years for bribery and power abuse.

Hishchanka’s case is not connected with Alyaksandr Korzhych’s death but it was started after the soldier’s death in Pechy.