"Too many people, I was at loss..." How police testify against protesters

The trials of Non-Parasites March participants largely follow the same template but interesting and tragic dialogues happen sometimes. They are interesting because protesters and their lawyers catch police witnesses on contradictions and the latter have to extricate themselves. They are tragic because they have no impact on the sentences awarded to the protest participants.

Homiel

Journalist Mikola Byanko tells about the trial of pensioner Uladzimir Nyapomnyashchykh:
— Did you see the thugs that were beating me up? he asks the shy riot police officer Kurbachou.
— No, I was 30 meters off, the bouncer-like officer answers.
— How could you hear that I was swearing?
— It is quiet in the morning so I was able to hear.
— Why didn't you see the thugs that were beating me up?
— It is dark in the morning, you know...

Minsk

During the trial of Nasta Ran'ko the judge and the police witness had the following dialogue.
— Did you see Ran'ko during the march?
— No.
— When did you see her?
— When she was getting on a trolley-bus.
— What was her face covered with?
— A scarf or a mask - I can't recall.
— What color was this object?
— I don't remember. Dark.
— When did it disappear after detention?
— I don't know.

The policeman's statement after the girl's detention is being read out: "During the demonstration, Ran'ko refused to obey to my legitimate demands to remove the mask from her face. Therefore, she was detained."
— Did you make this statementі? the judge asked.
— Yes I did, the policeman answers.
—  You said in court that you did not approach her during the mass event and told her nothing. How can you explain that?
— Maybe I came to her...
— Why did you say in court that you did not?
— Too many people, I was at loss...

Culture researcher Anastasia Ran'ko got 12 days of arrest.

Minsk

Judge asks a witness:
— Why did not you detein the offender during the action but did it only in the trolley-bus?
— I did not want to create panic during the event..., the policeman answers.

Other 'misunderstandings' also happened at Minsk's Central District Court. For example, the judge asked the police witness to show the young man in the courtroom whom he detained. The officer hesitated for about a minute. Another policeman said he detained protesters from the March 25 action.

"Many people are detained very quickly. Therefore, police reports are often written by template. When in court, it becomes obvious that officers did not detain the person, did not see her or him, did not stand nearby. They simply repeat what they were told to say. When asked simple questions like what clothes did the person have on? how did he or she behave? what was nearby?, they start contradicting themselves. But courts swallow all this. The template-like sentences (12, 13, 15 days of arrest) prove that this is not the opinion of the judge but the political order," human rights defender Nasta Loika comments. 

By 1800 on March 16, no detained protester was acquitted.