A Belarusian opposition activist stabbed himself in the throat with a pen during a court hearing after testifying that police tortured him in custody. This was announced by the human rights organization “Viasna”, quoted by “AFP”.
Footage from the Belarusian service of Radio Free Europe shows 41-year-old Stepan Latipov lying on a wooden bench in the detention cell in the courtroom. Another video shows Latipov being taken away in an ambulance, with blood stains on his shirt.
The prison authorities “swore to me that if I did not admit my guilt, criminal proceedings would be instituted against my relatives and neighbors,” Latipov revealed.
“Belarusian activist and political prisoner Stepan Latipov cut his throat in the courtroom today,” Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovska wrote on Twitter.
She added: “He was threatened that his family would be persecuted if he pleaded not guilty. This was the result of state terror, repression and torture in Belarus. We must stop this immediately.”
According to the independent media “Nasha Niva”, the security guards standing nearby could not open the detention cell immediately because they did not hit the right keys immediately.
“When the cell was opened, Stepan had already lost consciousness,” Nasha Niva said.
Latipov was arrested in September in Minsk during the Belarusian authorities’ crackdown on mass protests following the August presidential election, was tortured for several weeks in custody, and his family and friends were threatened with the same treatment.
He was accused of organizing riots, resisting police and fraud. Latipov denies having done anything wrong.
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