Miachyslau Hryb: Duty-Holders Must be Responsible For Persecuting Patriots

The authorities are trying to distance from the collapsing "patriots’" case.

– I believe that there has been no "White Legion" in our country for a long time, more than 10 years have passed since its disappearance. The criminal case initiation was a surprise for all: no one had seen, no one had heard of the "White Legion", which appeared from nowhere. And suddenly it was announced to the whole country about the detention of a group of people, who had been preparing "mass riots," – retired Lieutenant-General Miachyslau Hryb told the Belaruskaya Prauda website.

– The day before, the KGB chairman made a number of strange statements, from which it seems that the KGB is trying to distance from the criminal case.

– That is no news. When the KGB opens a criminal case, but sees that it does not have a judicial perspective, it tries to distance from the case, passing it to the Investigative Committee, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and to go into the shadows.

– And who initiated the criminal case: the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the KGB?

–This question interests me as well. It seems to me that the department, which carries out the investigation on the criminal case, is the case initiator. That is, the KGB.

– Is the patriots' case really falling apart?

– If people are released from custody, changed the measure of restraint or even removed the charges, the question always arises: what for is a person detained? Why was he, innocent, deprived of his freedom and held in jail? A check should be carried out and legal assessment should be given to every action. Absolutely innocent people are thrown behind bars, which means that the duty-holders must be responsible for their actions. Unfortunately, this is not going to happen in our country.

– Are the political consequences inevitable?

– Definitely. There will be not only political consequences, measures must be taken to those responsible; if the guilt is proven, the perpetrator must bear responsibility – disciplinary, possibly criminal one. High-profile resignations are also possible. Yet, this will depend on the big politics.

It is impossible to deprive an innocent person of his freedom even for a day!