CCPR/C/112/D/1773/2008 4.32 Mr. Kozulin was not isolated but held together with 77 other prisoners; the compound is equipped with a television receiver, DVD player and a radio. Practically all detainees in the unit are released early, on bail or owing to the substitution of their sanction by a lighter one. 4.33 Mr. Kozulin has breached the detention regulations on 12 occasions, he was disciplined 4 times and in 8 cases he was given a warning. The sanctions imposed were appropriate to the gravity of the transgressions. On 24 January 2008, he was accused of having maliciously breached the rules regarding execution of penalties; he refused to sign an undertaking of law-abiding behaviour and, in that context, on 30 January 2008, the administration refused to modify his sanction to a lighter one. 4.34 Regarding the alleged unlawful acts by law enforcement personnel and other officials against Mr. Kozulin in the context of the presidential election and its preparation, the State party explains that, in 2006, Mr. Kozulin and his representative complained three times. On 2 March 2006, one of his representatives complained to the Procurator’s Office of the Moscow District in Minsk about individuals obstructing the registration of Mr. Kozulin to the third All Belarusian People’s Assembly and for having used physical force against him. The verification carried out showed that, at 9 a.m. on 2 March 2006, Mr. Kozulin went to the House of the Railway Workers during the registration of the participants of the national assembly and asked to be registered as a delegate. His registration was refused and it was explained to him that his request was groundless. In reply, Mr. Kozulin, deliberately pushing the individuals present, attempted to provoke an argument with the registration commission. In order to prevent that, officers of the Almaz elite anti-terrorism unit of the Ministry of Interior in charge of security, decided to have Mr. Kozulin and those accompanying him removed from the building. As the latter refused to follow their requests and given their active disobedience, the officers used physical force. Mr. Kozulin was brought to the Department of Internal Affairs of the Oktyabrsk District of Minsk, where he, driven by hooliganism, deliberately smashed a portrait of the Belarusian President. A preliminary investigation was opened against Mr. Kozulin for hooliganism. In the light thereof, the Procurator’s Office of the Moscow District in Minsk rejected Mr. Kozulin’s representative’s complaint of 2 March 2006 regarding the Almaz unit, for absence of corpus delicti in the officers’ acts. 4.35 The lawyer complained to the Lenin District’s Procurator’s Office in Minsk on 11 May 2006, claiming that the police and the wardens of the Minsk Congress Hall unlawfully used physical force and special means (defence spray) against Mr. Kozulin and those accompanying him when they tried to hold a press conference. Verification established that, on 16 February 2006, the National Press Centre received a communication from the initiative committee supporting Mr. Kozulin’s standing for president, with a request to conduct a press conference on 17 February 2006 at the Minsk Congress Hall. The request was considered and rejected and those concerned were duly notified. Nevertheless, at 4.30 p.m. on 17 February 2006, Mr. Kozulin, accompanied by a group of people, entered the hall by force. They ignored the warnings of the wardens and of a police officer and refused to leave. Mr. Kozulin personally threatened officers in charge of the protection of the public order and humiliated them using violence. The Minsk city police was called; it intervened and lawfully used force against Mr. Kozulin and the group, with use of a protection spray against one individual. On 25 April 2006, the Lenin District Procurator’s Office in Minsk refused to open a criminal case against the wardens and the police officers involved, in absence of corpus delicti. 4.36 On 13 April 2006, Mr. Kozulin complained to the Zavodsky District’s Procurator’s Office about the use of force against him by the police and the Almaz unit. Verification showed that, on 25 March 2006, he had organized an unauthorized meeting and incited those attending to walk towards a government office to demonstrate. Mr. Kozulin ignored 11