Lawsuit Against Lukashenka In Germany: Who Is Behind It, What Awaits Dictator, His Accomplices

Lawyers will seek to recognize the regime as a terrorist one.

Behind the German lawsuit against Lukashenka, which has already become high-profile without the participation of the main person involved, is an anonymous group of Belarusians. Naviny.by talked to one of its members, and found out what kind of people they are.

To hold accountable for torture

On May 5, the federal prosecutor's desk in Karlsruhe, Germany, received a statement filed by four German lawyers on behalf of their clients who accuse Lukashenka and his accomplices of crimes against humanity.

The Belarusian citizens who have suffered from violence and torture and are unable to achieve justice in their homeland, ask the German prosecutor's office to start an investigation followed by a court trial on the principle of universal jurisdiction for the actions prohibited by the international law, and committed in other states.

What are the legal grounds for filing a lawsuit against Lukashenka in Germany?

This is possible thanks to a law that came into force in Germany in June 2002. The law criminalizes violations of international law (Völkerstrafgesetzbuch, VStGB).

A striking example of the operation of this law in practice is the trial of torture and murder in Syria, unique in the world history. As a result, the High Land Court in Koblenz, Germany, recognized that the Syrian government was committing crimes against humanity, and sentenced an ex-Syrian intelligence officer who had previously received asylum in Germany, to imprisonment.

The offices of four German lawyers - professionals of the highest level in the field of criminal law - are involved in the Belarusian torture case. They are Roland Krause, Mark Lupschitz, Benedict Lux and Onur Ozata.

They have collected and prepared documentary evidence of more than a hundred facts of torture of civilians by representatives of the power structures of the Belarusian authorities. Ten people are ready to personally testify about the crimes of the regime, both at the stage of investigation and trial.

Belarusian underground in the XXI century

Anton Malkin, a native of Belarus, now lives in Bonn, personally searched for possible witnesses for the trial of Lukashenka and his accomplices. Today Malkin is sure that the case of the crimes of the Belarusian regime is moving in the right direction.

Anton Malkin spoke about the hidden mechanisms of the case against Lukashenka in an interview with Naviny.by.

Anton Malkin about himself

Until 2000, I lived in Belarus. Already then I realized that if in Belarus you dare to go beyond the average level, then you have to do it either within the framework of the system, which I did not like very much, or go to jail. In Belarus, I studied, worked, and did business. There is nothing remarkable in my biography.

Now I am 48 years old, I live in Germany and also work as an individual entrepreneur. That is, I am a representative of the middle class, which has never been particularly involved in politics. Yes, in fact, all of us in our group are like that, who were never interested in politics, but in the autumn of 2020 we saw that people needed it.

- How has it all started?

- The idea to recognize Lukashenka's regime as a terrorist one at the official level came in October 2020 along with the understanding that what is happening in Belarus is terror. It literally was in the air: a petition appeared to recognize the special police and the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption as terrorist organizations. And in one of the groups in Telegram the idea matured to combine jurisprudence with reality, and use it for political purposes.

At the beginning, everything seemed extremely simple: we take lawyers and connect them with human rights defenders. But this idea was very naive. So I had to step out of the shadows to speak directly with victims, lawyers, human rights defenders, and the media.

- And who do you mean by “we”?

- I would not like to name the members of the group now in order to avoid pressure on them. I will say that yes, I am a member of this group. I will definitely disclose the entire list of members of our group as soon as there is one person less in Belarus.

- And what kind of group is this in general terms?

- These are representatives of the Belarusian diaspora from different countries. These are mainly Germany and other EU countries. There are no those among us who are on the territory of Belarus.

- How many members are in your group?

- There are ten people in the main team, there are another two dozen who are actively working. And about fifty more people who are engaged in non-critical tasks. In addition, almost the entire world diaspora helps us: we get all the necessary things very quickly.

- Where did you get the resources for work?

- We all are working for the sake of our idea. The best ones leave Belarus: either those honest and smart who could not break through this system, or those who suffered directly from it. I will give an example in order that you understand what kind of people they are: once, in a small project related to helping students, we had to sign an appeal in which it was appropriate to mention academic degrees. Among one of the eleven people who initiated this appeal, by chance there were seven doctors of sciences.

All are well settled abroad and live well. For us, this project is a matter of honor.

- What kind of project are you talking about?

- This is a one-time project, it does seem reasonable to turn it into something long-term. So it began in October and will end with a change of regime. Therefore, we did not bother with registration, the creation of associations. We are engaged in exclusively purposeful activities.

In addition to the trial, we work in the line of economic pressure, we are engaged in diplomatic work, in the humanitarian direction - assistance to refugees and the repressed. The spontaneous subculture of protest has also taken shape: these are exhibitions, actions, events.

- You say that there are people from different countries in the group. How do you contact?

- We met, of course, on Telegram. Now the work is happening in a decentralized manner. Everyone has known each other for a long time, and communication is mostly direct.

- Have you considered the threats to the personal safety of the participants in the process?

- Yes, first of all, we thought about the safety of witnesses to the crimes of Lukashenka and his group. The personal data of the witnesses will not be disclosed either before the trial or during it.

There are several people who themselves agreed to speak to the press. These are people who themselves and their relatives are abroad, they are completely inaccessible to the regime. There are those who wanted to speak publicly, but for many reasons we recommended them not to.

As for the safety of the group organizers of the process. Look at this detail: the regime did not react in the first days to the announcement that the investigation of the crimes of Lukashenka and his accomplices had been initiated. They were not ready, although all the diasporas abroad were involved in the process, along with the Tsikhanouskaya headquarters, and the National Anti-Crisis Management, and human rights organizations were well aware of the process. The regime did not know about our work.

In addition, the process is now entirely in the hands of the German judicial authorities, and there is no longer any point in trying to influence the members of the group.

- What are the prospects for this process, in your opinion?

- Ten people, victims of torture, signed a statement to initiate proceedings against Lukashenka. But this does not mean that everything will be limited to ten cases. There are documents processed for the court on another hundred cases. And a huge amount of not yet processed evidence of the crimes of the Lukashenka regime against humanity. If necessary, it is not difficult to involve the databases collected by human rights organizations. That is, we have an incredible amount of evidence at our disposal.

Based on this, the process itself must be very high-profile, and the amount of material damage can be unimaginably large.

Awareness will be followed by action.

- Does this case include the murders of Aliaksandr Taraikouski and Raman Bandarenka?

- Now we are concentrating on torture. We have materials on Taraikouski and Bandarenka. But now much depends on the line of the prosecutor: whether he will agree with the qualifications of the lawyers, that there is massive torture and intimidation of the population, or he will decide to requalify the case. If he finds it necessary to include questions about the murders, then we will provide materials, since there are enough of them.

We did not contact the families of those killed for security reasons. They are in Belarus, and remain under vigilant surveillance.

- What awaits Lukashenka and others involved in the event that a German court finds them guilty of crimes against humanity?

- Criminal sanction in Germany for torture - from five years in jail with no upper limit. As we all understand, for what is happening in Belarus, it will not be limited to five years. If we go to higher instances, for example, the International Criminal Court, then, according to our estimates, it is unlikely that any of the judges will give less than a life sentence.

- What awaits the accomplices of the regime?

- It is important that the lawsuit was filed not against Lukashenka alone. We had different options: there is a list of 80 people, there is a list of 50, there are 25 names. The lists of the accused were constantly reviewed until the lawyers decided that the lawsuit would be filed against Lukashenka himself and against the parties involved.

This is a much stronger decision, because in the process all accomplices of the regime's crimes will be convicted and sentenced: be it the country's leadership, whether it be riot police, be it judges or prosecutors, or delegates to the All-Belarusian People's Assembly, which legitimized this terror. The specific time frame will already be determined by the competent authorities.

And for everyone who knows that he is an accomplice, it is time to think about moving from the category of the accused to the ranks of the witnesses.

- Where should those who want to become a witness in the case against the regime address?

- If there is a desire to testify in a legal sense, then there are two possibilities. If what you can talk about is related to one of the open cases of universal jurisdiction, then directly to the lawyers who are engaged in a particular case.

If the security officials want to testify, then either to human rights defenders (witnesses, victims), or to ByPOL, the Belarusian People's Tribunal. I personally would like ByPOL more, they are more professional and will always find a common language.

- And who is on these lists that you mentioned?

- We have different lists based on the modus of co-partnership in the regime’s crimes. There is a list of 80 people in the top management whose actions qualify as complicity. In particular, I can name Tsiartsel, Karpiankou, etc.

- Let's say the persons involved in the process will be given prison terms. So, what is next?

- What we are creating is a tool for the demolition of the regime. We are creating the basis for the regime to stop receiving support from abroad. Who in their mind wants to be a financier or an accomplice in crimes against humanity?

To understand what is happening now, it must be said that “crimes against humanity” is a term that was created on August 8, 1945 to condemn the Nazis.

In fact, by this process, we equate the crimes of the Lukashenka regime with the crimes of Nazism. And the official recognition of this equality will not allow anyone to support the Lukashenka regime either at the political or at the economic level. Will Putin himself want to contact a person who is even accused of this?

This is something that the regime cannot survive in any way. Belarus is not North Korea, where something can somehow function on oxen and horse-farming. This is a country that lives in close connection with the world.

- It turns out that the expectation is that the regime, deprived of resources, either decides to leave on its own, or the people, outraged by the falling standard of living, again take to the streets with a peaceful protest. Right?

- There are things, changing which does not even require a court decision. Publicity is enough. Recall how child labor in Southeast Asia has ceased to be a common place phenomenon, and is now a rare exception. There was no decision, the world community put pressure on. The same will happen in Belarus - Lukashenka will become a household name.

We do not want to make an atomic bomb that will destroy the regime together with the country. We are creating an instrument of universal application, and it is in its application that great flexibility is needed in order to force Lukashenka to leave, while harming ordinary people as little as possible.