CCPR/C/122/D/2212/2012 to disperse voluntarily. The author was hit on the leg and the head and lost consciousness. 9 When he recovered consciousness, he realized that his leg had been seriously injured and that he needed medical assistance. Friends offered to drive him to a hospital and he agreed. However, the police stopped the car after a few kilometres and dragged the author out, arresting him using disproportionate force. While being arrested, he was beaten and kicked, receiving blows to the face, head, arms and torso, resulting in multiple haematomas on his head, arms and torso, and a severe injury to his leg. 2.7 The author was initially held in a temporary confinement cell at a facility on Okrestina Street, Minsk, and shortly thereafter transferred, under the pretext of being transported to hospital, to a State Security Agency pretrial detention centre, where he was held until the end of his trial. On 20 December 2010, criminal proceedings were initiated against the author under article 293, part 1, of the Criminal Code (organization of mass disorder, accompanied by violence against persons, pogroms, arson, destruction of property or armed resistance against the authorities) and article 293, part 2, of the Criminal Code (involvement in riots, including the committing of acts specified in the first part of article 293). On 22 December 2010, the Prosecutors’ Office ordered that the author be held on remand and he remained in detention until the trial. The author was officially charged under article 293, parts 1 and 2, of the Criminal Code on 29 December 2010. The charges against him were formulated in a general manner and did not specify what acts he was accused of committing. The author maintains that his remand in custody was illegal and unfounded under domestic legislation. 10 Furthermore, his remand in custody was authorized by the Prosecutor,11 who is not authorized by law to exercise judicial power. The author’s lawyers filed appeals against his remand in custody and requests for his release on bail on 23 December 2010, 21 January 2011, 28 January 2011, 24 February 2011, 25 March 2011, 5 April 2011, 8 April 2011, 11 April 2011 and 27 April 2011, all of which were either rejected or ignored by the courts.12 2.8 The author submits that, during the pretrial investigation, his contact with his lawyers was restricted. During the period 19 December 2010–22 March 2011, while he was being held at the State Security Agency pretrial detention centre, his attorneys were informed by the detention centre authorities that they could not visit him because there were no rooms available for that purpose. At no point during the period of his detention did the author have the opportunity to communicate with his lawyers confidentially while investigative actions were ongoing. His lawyers filed complaints in that regard on 23 December 2010, 29 December 2010, 6 January 2011, 27 January 2011 and 16 February 2011. All of those complaints were ignored or rejected by the investigators or by the detention centre authorities. Furthermore, on 3 March 2011, the author’s initial lawyer, Pavel Sapelko, was disbarred by the Minsk City Bar Association and had his licence withdrawn by the Ministry of Justice, allegedly after he had publicly raised concerns about the author’s “horrendous” condition and the Government’s mistreatment of him during his pretrial detention. 2.9 The author submits that, while being held at the State Security Agency pretrial detention centre, he was subjected to torture and ill-treatment. When he was brought to the detention centre on 20 December 2010, he had numerous injuries resulting from the beating he had received, but he was not provided with medical assistance. He was denied access to toilet facilities for five hours, placed in a very small, cold cell and forced to lie on a bare wooden floor. He could barely use the narrow space allocated to him due to the severe pain in his injured leg. After three to four days, he was allocated space on a wooden bunk bed but he was ordered to lie still facing a bright light. The light in the cell was always kept switched on. He was not allowed to change position on the wooden bunk bed and, if he fell 9 10 11 12 4 According to Working Group on Arbitary Detention opinion No. 14/2012, para. 5, the police assaulted the author by pinning him down with a riot shield and jumping on it repeatedly, thereby severely injuring his legs. His friends attempted to shield his head, and, with the help of his wife, managed to free him. Reference is made to article 117 (1) and (2) and article 126 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Reference is made to article 119 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Copies of the appeals submitted on the author’s behalf, and of the respective court decisions, are available on file.