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Harry Pahaniajla: People involved in kidnappings may be arrested in other counties

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Harry Pahaniajla: People involved in kidnappings may be arrested in other counties

Foreign trips of officials, responsible for the disappearances of Belarusian politicians, may end up with an arrest for them.

A lawyer Harry Pahaniajla told that in an interview to Belsat TV channel.

According to him, in dozens countries over the world they can put into custody and punish the officials, involved in the kidnappings and murders of the politicians.

According to the lawyer of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, this year the public, relatives of the victims and layers must do everything possible to finish the investigation on the cases of the disappeared, since the 15-year limitation terms are about to expire for the cases of Viktar Hanchar, Yury Zakharanka and Anatol Krasouski, which would allow the Belarusian authorities send them to archives. Four people were sentenced for the kidnapping of Dzmitry Zavadski, but there are still questions.  

If everything ends with that, Harry Pahaniajla notes, there is an international mechanism for punishing the guilty – the universal criminal jurisdiction. It applies for the crimes, the whole international society is interested in a punishment for: genocide, military crimes, tortures, terroristic acts, out-of-court executions, kidnappings of people which lead to their disappearance. According to the data of an international organization Amnesty International, 125 out of the world’s 194 countries apply the universal jurisdiction at least to one of the listed crimes.

“Of course, in order to punish the guilty of the disappearances of the Belarusians, counties would need a political will. If the authorities put the cases of the disappeared on shelf, the situation may arise in a number of countries, when the universal international jurisdiction will be used. I do not rule out such countries as Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Ukraine, Great Britain and a number of others”. – the layer says.

Harry Pahaniajla has no doubts that the disappearances of Viktar Hanchar, Dzmitry Zavadski, Yury Zakharanka and Anatol Krasouski were politically motivated:

“We proceed from that all the criminal versions of the events were investigated and did not find the proof. The only version left uninvestigated is the politically motivated one. It stems from the involvement of the high state’s officials into the kidnappings of people. This tells about a more serious crime – an out-of-court execution”, - he stated.

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