Media Report: Colonel Of Justice Eldar Safarau And His Wife Released After 10 Days Of Arrest

Their legal status remains unknown.

Former prosecutor, Colonel of Justice Eldar Safarau and his wife, lawyer Yulia Stankevich, were released after 10 days in a pre-trial detention center, writes Nasha Niva. Their legal status remains unknown.

Yesterday, the website Charter97.org was the first to report the arrest of Eldar Safarau and his wife. The information was later confirmed by Viasna human rights activists.

It became known that the spouses were charged with “people’s” Article 342 of the Criminal Code (“Organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them”). They were recognized as political prisoners.

Eldar Safarau is known for his work on a number of high-profile trials. He acted as a state prosecutor in the second case of the Morozov gang, which ended in two death sentences, and in the case of Vaukavysk businessman Mikalai Autukhovich in 2010.

Safarau left the authorities in the autumn of 2020.

“Yes, my departure is connected with the events of summer and autumn. But there are many wonderful people left in the system, both leaders and subordinates, so I will limit myself to this comment — I don’t want to oppose them, I don’t want even one word to be used against them,” he said in a comment to reporters.