Case over death of Lithuanian secret service officer in Belarus determined as murder

Prosecutors, conducting a third pretrial investigation of the case of the death of Lithuanian secret service officer Vytautas Paciunas in summer 2006, don’t exclude he was killed.

The prosecutor, investigating the incident, told the widow of V. Pociunas, the case over murder was started in February.

According to unofficial information, the crime was classified as murder by prosecutors, as they had received new data, which they refuse to say. They also don’t comment on the course of the investigation.

The General Prosecutor’s Office started the third investigation of the case. Two previous investigations showed the death of the secret services officer was an accident, when he fell through the window on the seventh floor of a hotel in Brest. The widow didn’t agree with the investigation results, she hopes this time prosecutors will clear out that her husband was killed – thrown or forced out of the window.

The Lithuanian press has recently mentioned possible reasons for the killing: Pociunas may have carried out independent investigation of corruption ties of Lithuanian businessmen and politicians, shady energy projects, and disappearance of money designated for the Belarusian opposition.