{"id":160707,"date":"2025-10-20T12:04:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T09:04:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/160707\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"dead-nazi-collaborator-on-trial-at-supreme-court","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/160707\/","title":{"rendered":"Dead Nazi collaborator on trial at Supreme Court"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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October 20, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> The Supreme Court has opened proceedings against Alexander Yermolchik, head of the auxiliary police during the Nazi occupation, the Prosecutor General’s Office reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dead Nazi collaborator is accused of murdering at least 247 people, including 37 children, and attempting to murder at least eight more people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case is a part of a series of trials targeting dead perpetrators of war crimes against Belarusians, following the conviction of Volodymyr Katriuk and proceedings against ethnic Pole Konstanty Smowski last year. Both were accused of involvement in Chaty\u0144 massacre in 1943.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Belarusian government\u2019s persecution of dead Nazi war criminals is primarily politically motivated, said<\/a> Gundula Pohl, of the Institute of History in Hagen, Germany, in her article published earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt reflects the state\u2019s need to legitimize its authoritarian rule and create a new basis for national identity after the brutal suppression of peaceful civil protests in the summer of 2020,\u201d the researcher noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government started promoting the concept of genocide against Belarusians about four years ago, while Prosecutor General \u0160vied personally contributed content for a textbook on genocide for five-graders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka signed laws providing for the criminal prosecution of the dead and criminalizing the denial of genocide. Denial carries a penalty of five years in prison. Repeated violation of the law may lead to up to 10 years in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historians and analysts note that the authorities also use the genocide theme to discredit their opponents by tying their symbols to Nazi collaborators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Supreme Court finds man who died in 1997 guilty of genocide<\/h3>\n
October 17, Pozirk. The Supreme Court has found Osyp Wynnycky, a deceased Nazi auxiliary police company commander, guilty of genocide, the Prosecutor General\u2019s Office reported. It stated that the convict murdered \u201cat least 403 people, at least 146 children among …<\/div>\n \n