Lukashenka Administration Top Official Faces Bribery Charges

The trial is closed.

On February 13, a corruption trial involving a high-ranking official begins in the Leninsky District Court of Minsk. Among the defendants are former first deputy Administrative Department manager Dmitry Rybko and entrepreneurs Vitaly Vinnichek and Oleg Khomutovsky.

The case concerns receiving a large bribe from businessmen, as well as abuse of office. The maximum penalty under these articles is 15 years in prison.

As Radio Liberty notes, information about the case is classified, and the trial will also be held behind closed doors.

It is known that Dzmitry Rybko was arrested more than a year ago, in January 2024. The official is 50 years old, and he has worked in the Administrative Department system for 20 years. He worked as the first deputy administrative department manager for 1 year and 4 months.

The most high-profile corruption scandal in Lukashenka's Property Management Department involved its former head, Halina Zhuraukova. In 2005, she was convicted of embezzling more than $2 million due to abuse of office. Although Zhuraukova was sentenced to 4 years in prison, she never went to jail, as Lukashenka soon pardoned her by decree. The official served only four months in a pretrial detention center and several months under a written undertaking not to leave, after which she left for Russia.

Zhuraukova and her subordinates, the heads of the state enterprise Belaya Rus, Aliaksandr Murashko and Yury Matusevich, were tried together. They were also sentenced to 4 years in prison each. Unlike Zhuraukova, they served their sentences in prison.

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