Defendant In Korzhych Case Confesses Having Been Beaten By KGB Men

Sergeant Yauhen Baranouski in the courtroom partially refuted the testimony, previously given by him at the time of the investigation.

On September 11, during the trial in the case related to the death of conscript soldier Aliaksandr Korzhych, the interrogation of the accused sergeants began, Radio Liberty reports.

Sergeant Yauhen Baranouski, who headed Korzhych’s department, was the first to testify. His interrogation lasted for about four hours, after which the Prosecutor started voicing Baranouski’s evidence, given at the time of the first days of the investigation, with major discrepancies.

Immediately after that, Baranouski informed that the testimony he had given at the time of the investigation did not fully correspond to the reality. Baranouski added that the reason for this was the pressure from the KGB officers.

“They beat and threatened me,” Baranouski said in the courtroom. “I still bleed when urinate. It all happened in the KGB, I don’t remember the officers’ names. They beat me, put psychological pressure on me. They forced me to give evidemce which was not fully true. In particular, that I shared the money with other sergeants. I didn’t do it. The pressure ended when I was transferred to the Valadarski Street remand prison.”

Baranouski added that he wrote the voluntary surrender note under the dictation of the KGB men.

Sergeant Yauhen Baranouski has been held in custody since early October, 2017. His case was initially handled by the KGB officers, and then the materials were passed to the Investigatory Committee.