VZCZCXYZ0038
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSK #0759/01 1940737
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 130737Z JUL 05
FM AMEMBASSY MINSK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2531
INFO RUCNOSC/ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY COOPERATION IN EUROPE
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

C O N F I D E N T I A L MINSK 000759 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/11/15 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM BO
SUBJECT: RIOT POLICE PUNCHES WIDOW OF MISSING REPORTER 
 
Ref: Minsk 590 
 
Classified by Ambassador George Krol for Reasons 1.4 (B,D) 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: On July 7, Svetlana Zavadskaya, widow of 
missing Russian cameraman Dmitry Zavadsky, and other 
supporters demonstrated on October Square to mark the 
fifth anniversary of Zavadsky's disappearance.  Soon 
after the demonstration began, OMON riot police 
attempted to push the crowd off the square.  The 
demonstrators resisted the OMON's attempts to disperse 
the group and both sides started pushing each other. 
News footage at the event captured Zavadskaya slapping 
an OMON officer before he punched her in the face.  Both 
Zavadskaya and the police department subsequently gave 
different accounts of the events leading up to the 
punch, but the police accused Zavadskaya of instigating 
the incident.  The Minsk prosecution office is 
investigating the OMON and Zavadskaya's actions.  End 
Summary. 
 
 
The Protest 
----------- 
 
¶2. (U) On July 7, 25 opposition activists, sympathizers, 
and relatives of Russian ORT cameraman Dmitry Zavadsky 
formed a human chain on October Square in Minsk to mark 
the fifth anniversary of his disappearance.  The 
demonstrators, most of whom were in their late forties 
or older, stood along Skaryna Avenue holding portraits 
of Zavadski and other political figures who disappeared. 
Those present included Zavadski's widow, Svetlana 
Zavadskaya, his mother, United Civic Party leader 
Anatoly Lebedko, human rights activist Valery Shukin, 
Andrei Klimov (Klimov observed, but did not 
participate), journalists and 15 BKGB officers who 
roamed around the crowd. 
 
¶3. (U) The "Human Chain of Concern" began at 1800, but 
after three minutes, 24 OMON riot police entered the 
square and formed a line between the demonstrators and 
Skaryna Avenue.  The OMON tried to seize portraits of 
the disappeared from the resisting demonstrators, but 
only managed to grab a few, which they crumpled and 
threw on the ground.  The OMON then surrounded the 
demonstrators, compressed them into a small group, and 
slowly moved them off the square.  Most of the 
demonstrators refused to move until the OMON began to 
mildly push or grab, but poloff did not witness any 
punches or overtly aggressive actions. 
 
¶4. (U) As the group moved across the square, Zavadskaya 
periodically yelled at the OMON, calling them 
'fascists', among other things.  Several demonstrators, 
including Lebedko and Shukin, escaped from the group and 
reformed the human chain next to Skaryna Avenue.  Seven 
OMON followed and again seized portraits and tried to 
move the demonstrators from the square.  Shukin braced 
himself from moving, but three OMON officers pushed hard 
enough that he fell.  Shukin, however, made the fall 
look more serious than what it was, and once he stood 
up, held his elbow high to show that it was injured. 
The three officers smirked and shook their heads as they 
watched.  Lebedko and the OMON got into an aggressive 
shoving match until one of the demonstrators pulled 
Lebedko away to calm him down.  OMON officers tried to 
grab his wrists, but Lebedko kept flailing his arms 
away.  Eventually, Lebedko and the demonstrator left the 
square with seven OMON escorts, though no one touched 
him as he was leaving.  One man and woman would not give 
up their portraits or leave, so the OMON led them by the 
arm into the underpass near Skaryna.  They were released 
30 minutes later.  No one was arrested. 
 
 
Zavadskaya Punched 
------------------ 
 
¶5. (U) On July 8, news agencies reported that one OMON 
officer punched Zavadskaya as the first group was being 
escorted off the square.  Poloff did not witness the 
incident, but Russian TV footage showed Zavadskaya 
snatching an OMON officer's beret and slapping him 
before he punched her in the temple.  Zavadskaya 
reportedly felt sick and went to the hospital later that 
evening.  Zavadskaya believed she had a concussion or 
minor head trauma, but a doctor diagnosed her with 
bruised tissue on her forehead. 
 
¶6. (U) According to Zavadskaya's story, she told the 
 
 
OMON to leave her alone and let her stand on the square 
with her husband's portrait.  One OMON officer then 
grabbed her, took the portrait, and crumbled it into a 
ball.  She responded by snatching his beret from his 
head.  The officer punched her in return.  Zavadskaya 
feared the officer would have hit her again had another 
OMON officer not pulled him away.  She claimed it was a 
painful experience and began crying, but the OMON would 
not let her leave.  "I was afraid that they would beat 
me again.  Every year we mark my husband's 
disappearance, but no one ever beat me before." 
 
¶7. (U) Head of the Minsk City Police press department 
Oleg Slepchenko announced that the authorities were 
investigating the incident and would determine the 
legality of the OMON officer's actions.  He noted, 
however, that the demonstration was unsanctioned and 
Zavadskaya's aggressive behavior, such as using abusive 
language and slapping officers, provoked the incident. 
According to Slepchenko, Zavadskaya not only snatched 
the officer's beret, but slapped him and another officer 
in the face.  In an attempt to protect himself from a 
second blow, the officer in question put out his palm as 
a block and accidentally hit her.  After all this, she 
remained at the demonstration for another 40 minutes. 
Slepchenko admitted Zavadskaya may have bruised tissue 
on her forehead, but the OMON officer has a bruise on 
his lip. Note: Slepchenko commented that, in his 
personal opinion, no one should hit a woman. 
 
 
His Word Against Hers 
--------------------- 
 
¶8. (U) On July 8, Zavadskaya told reporters that her 
face felt better, but she continued to suffer emotional 
stress.  She announced that she had requested the Minsk 
City Prosecutor's Office to investigate the OMON 
officer's actions and press charges.  However, changing 
her story a little, Zavadskaya admitted she pushed the 
officer first, but only after she had repeatedly told 
him to keep his hands off of her.  According to the 
Minsk Police Department, the police video "explicitly" 
shows Zavadskaya hitting another officer before slapping 
the one who hit back. 
 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶9. (C) The incident may have been a result, though not 
the one desired, of actions pre-planned by the 
demonstrators.  In the past, members of Free Belarus, 
which includes groups such as Charter '97, Zubr, and 
Zavadskaya's We Remember, have attempted to provoke the 
OMON into violent retaliation in front of foreign news 
agencies to capture the events on film (reftel).  The 
result is footage of brutal police actions against 
"peaceful" demonstrators without documentation of any 
prior provocations.  On July 7, Russian ORT TV and other 
news agencies were already in place ten minutes before 
the event. 
 
¶10. (C) The evening ORT TV news program repeated the 
clip of Zavadskaya slapping the OMON officer before 
being punched herself, but little of the events prior to 
it.  Poloff did not witness the altercation, but the 
footage did show the OMON officer's deliberate punch to 
her head and not an accidental slap with the palm of his 
hand.  In addition to Shukin's trumped up fall and the 
fact that two demonstrators brought what appeared to be 
very young grandchildren to an event they knew would be 
rowdy, it is evident that the demonstrators hoped to 
capture an incident on camera to attract sympathy for 
their cause.  Unfortunately, on the anniversary of her 
husband's disappearance, it was Zavadskaya who felt the 
response. 
 
KROL