Justice Is Inevitable

Roman Bondarenko's killers shouldn't let their guard down.

On the evening of November 11, 2020, a group of pro-government activists attacked a defender of “Square of Change”. They brutally beat 31-year-old Roman Bondarenko, who died in the hospital on November 12.

This murder caused a huge outcry and had far-reaching consequences—Lukashenko himself tried to portray the tragedy as a drunken brawl, but anesthesiologist Artem Sorokin told journalist Katerina Borisevich that there was no alcohol in Bondarenko’s blood. This led to a criminal case and prison sentences for both of them.

In the end, Sorokin and Borisovich were the only ones convicted in this entire affair. The actual killers of Roman Bondarenko, despite the murder case opened by the Investigative Committee, were never identified by the official investigation.

Today’s Belarus is controlled by people who go to great lengths to shield and defend their attack dogs; yet world history and legal practice show that, years or even decades later, justice—in the form of prison sentences—eventually catches up with criminals who acted on behalf of and in the interests of the authorities, writes “Solidarnast”.

Víctor Jara

The name of this Chilean singer, theater director, and supporter of President Salvador Allende is well known to the older generation. Víctor was arrested following the coup led by Augusto Pinochet. The poet was tortured and shot in September 1973.

The case regarding the murder of Victor Jara only gained momentum after Pinochet stepped down from power and faced significant difficulties and obstacles. Finally, in 2023, the Chilean Supreme Court handed down guilty verdicts against seven former military officers. They were sentenced to 25 years and two days for the murders of Jara and another victim of state terrorism—Litre Kiroga.

In 2026, the last of the convicted men—Colonel Nelson Haase Massei, who had previously been on the run from justice—was arrested and sent to prison. The families of the victims were awarded approximately $480,000 from the Chilean budget.

A separate trial took place in the United States, where two former Chilean military officers involved in the murder of Víctor Jara were stripped of their U.S. citizenship and ordered to pay astronomical compensation to the victims’ relatives totaling 28 million U.S. dollars.

Thus, more than fifty years passed before justice was finally served. Specific government officials who acted in the government’s interests were convicted of their crimes.

Enrique Anchilelli

A Catholic bishop—a critic of Argentina’s military dictatorship—died in a car accident in August 1976. As it later turned out, Anchilelli’s death was the result of a murder orchestrated by security forces.

Only decades later, in 2014, an Argentine federal court sentenced two former military officers to life in prison: General Luciano Benjamín Menéndez and Luis Fernando Estrella.

It is also worth mentioning the convictions of officials and members of Argentina’s “death squads.” During the military dictatorship from 1976 to 1983, the secret police kidnapped political opponents and took them to a secret prison, where people were tortured and killed. Some prisoners were thrown from airplanes into the sea.

See also
In Argentina, the repression was similar to that in Belarus, only even more monstrous. What happened to those responsible?

Decades later, in 2017, an Argentine federal court handed down sentences in which 29 defendants received life imprisonment, and 19 people were sentenced to terms ranging from 8 to 25 years in prison.

In addition to the Latin American experience, there are also European precedents for the prosecution of state agents who acted in the interests of the authorities and committed crimes on their behalf.

Czesław Kukuczka

A 38-year-old Polish man who attempted to flee to West Berlin and, to that end, fabricated a story claiming he had a bomb that he would detonate if he were not allowed to go West.

The GDR’s secret police carried out a special operation at the border crossing, where they convinced Czesław that he would be allowed to leave, but at the last moment, Stasi officer Manfred Naumann shot the Polish man in the back.

In October 2024, the Berlin Regional Court sentenced the 80-year-old Naumann to ten years in prison. As of today, the verdict has not yet taken legal effect due to an appeal.

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All these examples show that even military personnel who acted in full accordance with instructions and orders were brought to trial for the crimes they committed.

Everyone who, right now, on behalf of the state of Belarus and with the backing of state authorities, is committing lawlessness and injustice, torturing and killing dissidents, must remember that justice and the rule of law are inevitable.

An important point is that all these trials and convictions became possible thanks to preserved evidence and the persistence of relatives and human rights defenders amid the transition from dictatorship to democracy.

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