{"id":196788,"date":"2026-07-22T16:52:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T13:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/196788\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T16:53:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T13:53:13","slug":"belarus-to-try-another-deceased-man-on-genocide-charges","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/196788\/","title":{"rendered":"Belarus to try another deceased man on genocide charges"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

July 22, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>The Prosecutor General\u2019s Office of Belarus has sent to the Supreme Court a criminal case against another suspected Nazi war criminal accused of involvement in genocide against the Belarusian people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case forms part of a series of posthumous trials targeting alleged perpetrators of wartime atrocities in Belarus. Authorities say the proceedings are aimed at establishing historical justice and documenting Nazi crimes. Critics, however, view the campaign as part of a broader attempt by the state to shape historical memory and reinforce the official narrative of the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Prosecutor General\u2019s Office accuses Alaksandar Buh\u0142aj, born in Belarus\u2019 Niasvi\u017e district in 1910, of involvement in Nazi punitive operations during the World War II in Belarus, in which at least 174 people were killed and 77 people were enslaved.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the office, Buh\u0142aj led the unit called White Team, which was later reorganized as a company and a battalion named after him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buh\u0142aj emigrated to the United States after the war.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previous posthumous convictions include Volodymyr Katriuk, an ethnic Ukrainian born in 1921 in the village of Luzhany, and ethnic Pole Konstanty Smowski, both accused of involvement in the Chaty\u0144 massacre in 1943; Osyp Wynnycky, a Nazi auxiliary police company commander born in 1915 who died in Canada in 1997; Siamion Sierafimovi\u010d, who was born in Mir, Belarus, and died in the United Kingdom in 1997; Alaksandar Jarmol\u010dyk, who was born in 1915 and died in 1984; and Hans Eugen Siegling, who was born in 1912 and died in West Germany in 1978.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The charges appear to reflect the authorities\u2019 growing efforts to police public interpretations of World War II and enforce the government\u2019s official narrative of the conflict, which occupies a central place in Belarusian state ideology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conducting criminal trials against deceased individuals is \u201cnonsense\u201d from the standpoint of criminal law, Belarusian lawyer Natalla Mackievi\u010d, who was disbarred by authorities in Minsk in 2021, said during an online discussion in May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mackievi\u010d argued that posthumous prosecutions undermine the presumption of innocence, under which a person is considered innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. That standard cannot be meaningfully applied when the accused is deceased, she said. In such cases, it is impossible to ensure a fair trial, allow the defendant to exercise the right to defense or present arguments in their own favor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also questioned the use of the term \u201cgenocide\u201d in relation to World War II-era crimes in Belarus. By definition, genocide refers to acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, national, ethnic, racial or religious groups, rather than people defined solely by residence in a particular territory, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Belarusian authorities began actively promoting the concept of the \u201cgenocide of the Belarusian people\u201d around five years ago, following the violent crackdown on peaceful post-election protests in 2020. Prosecutor General Andrei Shved personally contributed materials to a school textbook on genocide for fifth-grade students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka signed legislation allowing the criminal prosecution of deceased individuals and criminalizing the denial of genocide. Denial of genocide carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, while repeat offences are punishable by up to 10 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historians and analysts say the authorities also use the genocide narrative to discredit opponents by associating their symbols with Nazi collaborators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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