Yury Zakharanka Was Killed 25 Years Ago

We remember.

On May 7, 1999, Former Minister of Internal Affairs of Belarus Yury Zakharanka disappeared on his way home, near Mahiliouskaia Street in Minsk. He was 47 years old at that time.

Yury Zakharanka began his career as a crime investigator, later he headed an investigative department, until 1991 he was the head of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Homel Regional Executive Committee. Then he was the head of the Investigation Department, and then he headed the Investigation Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus.

Immediately after Lukashenka was elected, he was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs. In an interview, Zakharanka mentioned a conversation with the head of the Security Council, Viktar Sheiman, who insisted that the minister should "comply with any order of the president."

"I will not shoot people, I will not violate the Constitution," the head of the law enforcement agency replied then. In October 1995, Lukashenka dismissed Zakharanka, and later the former minister was demoted to the rank of police colonel and dismissed from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Soon after, Yury Zakharanka joined the opposition. In February 1998, he headed the security committee of the "shadow government". In the spring of 1999, Zakharanka actively participated in the presidential election campaign organized by the opposition, was part of the team of former Prime Minister Mikhail Chyhir, travelled across the country, organized groups to collect signatures. On May 7, 1999, he called home and told his wife: "I will come soon, you can warm dinner", but he never came back home.

In 1999-2000, Acting Chairman of the Supreme Council Viktar Hanchar, businessman Anatol Krasouski, former Interior Minister Yury Zakharanka and journalist Dzmitry Zavadski disappeared without a trace in Belarus.

Subsequently, documents were made public, including the report of Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Mikalai Lopatsik, which testified that the "Death Squad" had dealt with opposition politicians and public figures. Orders were given by the country's top leadership.

On December 17, 2019, Deutsche Welle published a sensational confession of former SOBR fighter Yury Harauski.

In September 2019, Yury Harauski appealed to the Russian edition of the Deutsche Welle, stating that 20 years ago he participated in the kidnappings and murders of Belarusian opposition activists – Lukashenka’s opponents. Harauski claims that in 1999-2003 he was a fighter of the SOBR – a special rapid reaction detachment of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus. According to Harauski, on orders from above, together with his colleagues, he kidnapped and killed the former Minister of Internal Affairs of Belarus Yury Zakharanka, former head of the Central Election Commission Viktar Hanchar and businessman Anatol Krasouski, who supported the Belarusian opposition.

In the spring and autumn of 1999, these three people disappeared. The investigation into their disappearances in Belarus has not been completed. In 2004, the special rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Christos Pourgourides, having studied all the circumstances, came to the conclusion that Zakharanka, Hanchar and Krasouski were kidnapped and killed by SOBR fighters under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Dzmitry Pavlichenka with the approval of the country's leadership. This version is shared by human rights activists and the relatives of the missing, but it has not yet been proven.

Yury Harauski, 41, fled Belarus to Europe, where he asked for political asylum. He showed DW the originals and copies of some documents proving his claims.