{"id":132804,"date":"2025-04-03T17:59:24","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T14:59:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/132804\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"belarus-to-press-criminal-charges-against-foreign-officials-for-alleged-mistreatment-of-migrants","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/132804\/","title":{"rendered":"Belarus to press criminal charges against foreign officials for alleged mistreatment of migrants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

April 3, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> Belarus is set to press criminal charges against unnamed Latvian, Lithuanian and Polish officials in connection with alleged mistreatment of people desperately to enter the European Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian investigators have identified 342 victims, including 55 dead, the country\u2019s state-controlled news agency Bie\u0142TA<\/em> quoted Alaksandar Rud\u017ako, a deputy department head at the Investigative Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rud\u017ako said that the probe against Polish officials was launched in 2021, and the investigations against their Lithuanian and Latvian counterparts in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investigators have identified 223 victims (18 dead) in the case against Polish suspects, 83 victims (25 dead) in the Latvian case, and 36 victims (12 dead) in the Lithuanian case, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Accounts by the victims indicate that screening stations have been set up in the neighboring countries,” he said. “There are specific episodes of people going through them. At these stations, people were beaten, tortured and had their money and phones taken away. And the people who went through these screening stations say that officials there serve in specific agencies and security services.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rud\u017ako said that the neighboring countries refuse to cooperate. “They simply ignore any requests for legal assistance,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Oxfam and Egala human rights groups released a report<\/a> earlier this month claiming that third-country foreigners attempting to cross into the EU from Belarus face pushbacks and violence on both sides of the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Belarus, people are at times detained in camps or forced to create makeshift camps in the forest. \u201cMany are consequently gathered by uniformed personnel and coerced to cross the border at specific points. . . . People on the move report being prevented by Belarusian forces from leaving the border region or returning to the capital, Minsk, meaning they have no option to escape the cycle of violence in the Sistema, except by attempting to cross into Poland.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe policy of pushbacks, together with extensive border fortifications on the Polish side \u2013 including a five-m-high border fence topped with razor wire \u2013 can trap people in the border area, an area known as the Sistema or \u2018death zone,\u2019 for days, weeks or even months,\u201d the report stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBoth those detained in camps and those apprehended by Belarusian forces in the forest report being subjected to violence and extortion, as well as deprivation and confiscation of water, food and shelter,\u201d the report reads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe border region is a harsh and inhospitable environment, characterized by difficult terrain and extreme weather conditions. The Bia\u0142owie\u017ca Forest makes up a significant part of this area, with thick underbrush and uneven ground making travel slow and treacherous. The area also features several rivers and large swamps which are difficult and dangerous to cross, especially during rainy seasons,\u201d the report says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn the Polish side, a border fence and additional fortifications make it difficult to cross further into Poland. The Belarusian side to the east is a densely forested area a few kilometers wide, containing marshes and rough terrain as well as concertina wire entanglements and a Soviet-era fence. This area has become known as \u2018the Sistema.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dozens of foreigners arrested while crossing irregularly from Belarus into Poland<\/h3>\n
April 3, Pozirk. Poland thwarted more than 150 attempts by third-country foreigners to enter from Belarus irregularly yesterday, arresting 28 offenders as well as four persons on suspicion of facilitating illegal migration, the Polish Border Guard's press office reports. The …<\/div>\n \n