Belarusian Foreign Ministry promises to invite OSCE forensic experts

It has been stated by Andrei Savinykh, Press Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, who commented on the death of journalist Aleh Byabenin.

“A statement will be made at the plenary session of the OSCE Permanent Council that Belarus is ready to invite one or two forensic experts from OSCE member-states. They could get familiar with all the papers relating to the investigation into the death of reporter Aleh Byabenin,” Andrei Savinykh told media on Thursday in Minsk, Interfax-Zapad informs.

Savinykh added that the statement about that would be done in the morning Vienna time. This information will also be offered to ambassadors of OSCE countries accredited in Belarus.

Andrei Savinykh has emphasized that invitation of foreign experts is unprecedented in the legal practice of Belarus and other European countries. “The reason for such a move is that we are surprised and concerned about various groundless speculations and insinuations not only in mass media but also in statements of individual representatives of international bodies,” the spokesperson of the Belarusian Foreign Affairs Ministry said.

He expressed a hope that the impartial conclusions the OSCE experts will allow precluding biased opinions and tendentious speculations about the progress and results of the investigation. At the same time, he stressed that appropriate authorities of Belarus approached the investigation of Aleh Byabenin’s death in the most responsible manner and followed all the accepted rules of the international law.

“A death of a person is always a tragedy,” underlined the official representative of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Belarus. He expressed condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.