Natallia Radzina: Sanctions Against Suspects In Abductions, Murders In Belarus Remain Unlifted

Lukashenka is an absolute puppet of the Kremlin.

The reaction in Minsk to the confession of former Belarusian SOBR fighter Yuri Garavski about how the political killings of Lukashenka’s opponents were carried out, was quite expected. The people named by Garavski categorically reject the accusations. Political analysts close to the authorities are talking about whose mill the Deutsche Welle is pouring water into, which published a scandalous interview with Garavski before the meeting between Lukashenka and Putin. The version is pedalized, as if in this way Moscow was putting pressure on the Belarusian ruler, preventing him from turning to face the West.

- I think these versions are distributed by Belarusian special services and their agents. It is worth to stop the talk that “this will interfere with Lukashenka’s turning to the West.” Where is he going? Which West? Where do you see him “turning to the West”? In recent years, he has been invited several times to serious international events with the participation of presidents of the EU countries, and he did not go to any of them, because he is afraid of Moscow’s reaction. He is an absolute puppet of Moscow, - Natallia Radzina, Editor-in-Chief of the Charter97.org portal, commented on this dispute to the Israeli portal Details.

Meanwhile, already four times in December 2019, the Belarusian opposition led its supporters to protests. People are protesting against the creation of a “union state” between Russia and Belarus, believing that this Kremlin initiative will completely end Belarusian independence. And, obviously, the protests will increase as the date of the presidential election in Belarus, which is due to take place in 2020, is approaching.

The Deutsche Welle revelations

The Deutsche Welle is considered a publication with a pronounced anti-Kremlin stance. Which also does not confirm the version of the “Moscow conspiracy.” The materials were published in two formats: an interview with Yuri Garavski, who is now in Europe, as indicated in the “German-speaking Alps region”, under the protection of local special services and awaiting political asylum, as well as a documentary video report.

According to Garavski, following the orders from above, he abducted and killed ex-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. According to him, the elimination operations were led by the commander of the Special Rapid Response Unit (SOBR) Dzmitry Paulichenka. He told in detail how they kidnapped and shot Zakharanka with a pistol. He indicated where and how his body was cremated and where the ashes were later buried. The same, in detail - about Hanchar and Krasouski.

In another country, such details would be the reason for a serious investigation, removal from service of all involved and their command, impeachment ... But not in Belarus, where Aliaksandr Lukashenka is planning to run for the seventh term next year. You can pay attention to a common feature for many political Belarusian comments: in an effort to reject Garavski’s words, they focus not on the facts he cited, but on the reasons that allegedly prompted some of the outside forces (the Kremlin or the West) to put pressure on Lukashenka. Apparently, because the facts have been known for a long time - at least since 2004. They are recognized by Europe, and Garavski’s words now are not a revelation that needs proof, but new evidence on already known charges, which can be taken into consideration, including by the International Criminal Court (if it comes to it).

“This is a ground for the Hague court against the Lukashenka regime”.

- Minsk responds to new revelations in the “Case of the Missing” as follows: you never know what this person says, all this still needs to be checked. And in fact, how do we know that Garavski did not invent all this? Why should we believe him?

- We have been dealing with this topic for 20 years. During this time, huge amount of evidence about how the abductions of oppositionists took place in Belarus was collected. And the story of this former SOBR fighter seems to be absolutely true, since a huge number of surnames, details and places coincide ... - replies Natallia Radzina, Editor-in-Chief of the Charter97.org portal. - So the testimonies of Yuri Garavski are only part of the information that is already known to everyone.

There is an official document - the report of the Special Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Christos Pourgourides, made by him in 2004. It talks about the involvement of Lukashenka and a number of his senior officials in the killings of the opposition leaders. This is exactly what Yuri Garavski is talking about. Christos Pourgourides then conducted his own investigation, he met with former Belarus intelligence agents who investigated those disappearances, and with the relatives of the missing politicians. As a result, he came to the conclusion that the Belarusian elite directly gave orders to kill the opposition. These “death squads”, in which Yuri Garavski participated, existed in Belarus on the basis of the military unit #3214, on the basis of the SOBR, led by Dzmitry Paulichenka, claimed to be the direct executor of the murders.

Following the results of this report, the EU imposed sanctions on Lukashenka and his entourage. They included, in particular, former interior ministers Yury Sivakou and Uladzimir Navumau, former Prosecutor General Viktar Sheiman, former SOBR commander Dzmitry Paulichenka, and Lukashenka himself. In relation to this four, the sanctions of the European Union and the United States are still valid. Sanctions against other Lukashenka’s officials for 25 years were either introduced or removed, depending on the political situation. And against these, they still remain, which indicates the seriousness, the very great weight of that report.

Moreover, other evidence of Lukashenka’s involvement in political killings was previously cited. This evidence was made by former employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor General, who were part of the investigative group investigating the abductions of oppositionists in Belarus. When the series of strange deaths of the employees of this investigation group began - and at that time, in the late 1990s - early 2000s, people were still trying to seriously do their work, rather than falsify the investigation, as is usually the case in Belarus - and so, when a series of strange deaths of employees of this investigation team started, some of them were able to escape to the West. And they also spoke. They said that SOBR fighters were members of these illegal gangs that killed opposition leaders and people who were objectionable to the Lukashenka regime. They also called the names of these people. Therefore, what this fighter says in an interview with Deutsche Welle deserves the most serious attention. This is the basis for the Hague court against the regime of Lukashenka.

The same Garavski says that Viktar Hanchar, the killed opposition leader, had serious incriminating evidence against Lukashenka, which would definitely lead to his resignation. I believe in this, if only because Hanchar was one of Lukashenka’s associates in the first 1994 elections. A year later, realizing what kind of person he was, Hanchar went into opposition. It is clear that he might have some kind of incriminating evidence against the dictator.

So the materials published on the Deutsche Welle website are very serious evidence, not just accusations and retelling of previous evidence. And today we must ask another question: how can such a person be in power? How can Western politicians meet with him?

- Do you think this new evidence will have consequences? I mean, appeals to the international court, the creation of a commission of inquiry, or the introduction of new sanctions?

- Now a lot depends on the international reaction, and on Belarusians themselves. Lukashenka cannot run for his seventh presidential term next year - his next term should be a prison term. Today, the international community must demand the resignation of Lukashenka, and an independent trial against him.

For 25 years, there have been no elections in the country, the results of voting have been brazenly falsified and not recognized by the international community, freedom of assembly and association have been destroyed, people are being persecuted for participating in peaceful actions and for membership in unregistered organizations. All television channels are state-controlled, the opposition does not have access to them, hundreds of independent newspapers are closed, independent websites are blocked, and the possibility of blocking social media has been introduced legally. Criminal prosecution is provided for “insulting” of Lukashenka and other government officials, any criticism of the regime can be declared “extremist” or “threatening national security” - as it happened, for example, with the sensational film “Lukashenka. Criminal materials.”

- Well, this must be so, but will it happen? Or will everything “go down into the sand”?

- I really hope that this testimony on the DW will be the first step on this path. We already had Christos Pourgourides, the PACE rapporteur, who was not afraid and achieved sanctions, which helped to stop the political killings. “I hope that even now among the leaders of Europe and the USA there will be people who can begin the process of removing the bloody dictator from power, - said Natallia Radzina.

“We checked the words of Garavski with international experts”

Contacts with Minsk in the Bundestag are handled by the German-Belarusian parliamentary group. “In the interests of the families of the victims, we welcome a constructive investigation into these cases,” said Oliver Kaczmarek, Deputy Chairman of the group. However, the politician cautioned against hasty conclusions before the completion of the investigation, writes Deutsche Welle.

In his interview, the former SOBR fighter Garavski also speaks of a “special pistol”, which was stored in the Minsk pre-trial detention center #1, and was used for executions, shooting people dead. Former head of the Minsk pre-trial detention center #1 Aleh Alkayeu had also fled to Germany, where he also said that on the eve of the killings of political opponents, a special pistol, with which they executed the death sentences, was seized from his prison. The same pistol is mentioned in the report of Pourgourides: ex-head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Sivakou could not answer in detail the question of why in some cases this gun was taken outside the pre-trial detention center. A strange detail that may indicate that people were not “just killed,” but secretly executed. Also, the European researcher drew attention in his report that the Prosecutor’s Office did not compare the tracks left at the abduction site with the wheels of the red BMW belonging to Paulichenka. His report contains many other details, suggesting that the case was simply hushed down.

Deutsche Welle journalist Christian Trippe, who headed the crew working on an interview with the former SOBR fighter, said in an interview with tut.by that Garavski contacted the Russian service of the Deutsche Welle on his own in September 2019.

“We checked the facts. We recorded the core of his information in the form of a dossier, which was checked by many experts in Europe who were well acquainted with the case. Only after that we decided: yes, we will tell the story of Yuri Garavski, ”said Trippe. He has also confirmed that Garavski cannot be tried for his confessions, but to this day, despite the guards, he does not feel safe.