{"id":4491,"date":"2023-09-08T11:24:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T08:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/?post_type=articles&p=4491"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"harauski-trial-international-justice-may-break-cycle-of-impunity","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/4491\/","title":{"rendered":"Hara\u016dski trial: international justice may break cycle of impunity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Alexander Friedman<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trial of Juryj Hara\u016dski, a former member of the Belarusian interior ministry’s Special Rapid Response Unit (SOBR), in Switzerland may reinvigorate investigations into the disappearances of Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s opponents in the late 1999 and 2000 and give Belarusians hope for justice.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Death squad<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Hara\u016dski will go on trial in St. Gallen, Switzerland, on September 19, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019, media reported that Hara\u016dski moved to Switzerland and admitted to being a member of the death squad that had allegedly abducted and killed former Interior Minister Juryj Zacharanka, businessman Anatol Kraso\u016dski and opposition politician Viktar Han\u010dar in 1999.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prosecutor demanded a three-year sentence for Hara\u016dski (one year in prison and a two-year suspended sentence).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the Swiss justice system, it will be the first instance of prosecution for alleged abduction and murder in another country. For Belarus, it will be the first instance of prosecution for alleged political crimes under \u0141uka\u0161enka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Observers hope that the trial will shed the light on who ordered and organized the abductions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The investigators might not have evidence to implicate \u0141uka\u0161enka directly, but they should have evidence against other suspects, such as former Interior Minister Juryj Sivako\u016d, \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s close friend Viktar \u0160ejman, and former SOBR commander D\u017amitry Pa\u016dli\u010denka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disappearances<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Hara\u016dski\u2019s allegations are not new. The disappearances have received extensive media coverage and were investigated by Belarusian and international bodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2000, \u0141uka\u0161enka dismissed Uladzimir Mackievi\u010d as chief of the Committee for State Security (KGB) and Aleh Ba\u017ee\u0142ka as prosecutor general after they asked him for permission to arrest \u0160ejman and Pa\u016dli\u010denka in connection with the abductions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2001, Christos Pourgourides, rapporteur of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, unveiled the findings of his investigation in a report titled \u201cDisappeared Persons in Belarus.\u201d He concluded that \u201csteps were taken at the highest level of the state to actively cover up the true background of the disappearances,\u201d noting that he had been provided with evidence \u201cto suspect that senior officials of the state may themselves be involved in these disappearances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colonel Aleh A\u0142kaje\u016d, ex-warden of Detention Center No. 1 in Minsk, spent two decades investigating the disappearances. A\u0142kaje\u016d claimed that the official execution pistol was signed out of his detention center on two occasions, coinciding with the disappearance of Zacharanka, Hanchar and Kraso\u016dski.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka denied in the late 1990s and early 2000s that the opposition politicians and businessman had been abducted and claimed that Han\u010dar and Zacharanka moved to Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The uninvestigated disappearances were not in the spotlight in the second half of 2000s and did not feature prominently during the 2006, 2010, 2015 and 2020 presidential elections, in which \u0141uka\u0161enka was declared winner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hara\u016dski\u2019s revelations caused barely a ripple of interest in Minsk. \u0141uka\u0161enka is hoping that the public has already forgotten about the disappearances, while his opponents think that the topic is no longer relevant. The very possibility of a trial abroad seemed remote until recently as ties between Minsk and the West gradually improved in the second half of the 2010s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, after the 2020 disputed presidential election opposition politicians started to explore opportunities for prosecuting \u0141uka\u0161enka and others abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In May 2021, German lawyers asked the Federal Prosecutor\u2019s Office to open a criminal case against the Belarusian ruler and security officers over allegations of torture in the wake of Belarus\u2019 presidential election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December 2021, Tomasz Wilinski filed a case against the Belarusian ruler with the Polish National Prosecutor\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a separate development, Poland, Lithuania and the United States launched an investigation into the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk in May 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the European Parliament and the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly called for setting up a special tribunal for Vladimir Putin and \u0141uka\u0161enka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian opposition politicians and members of the European Parliament called on the International Criminal Court to consider an arrest warrant for \u0141uka\u0161enka, similar to arrest warrants issued for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Children\u2019s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova in connection with illegal transfers of children from Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March 2023, the Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights released a report that says that political reprisals in Belarus may amount to crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talk of criminal prosecution annoys \u0141uka\u0161enka and his cronies. The Swiss trial proves that international justice is a realistic prospect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka, security brass to defend regime<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Hara\u016dski trial is of great importance for the victims\u2019 families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka understood already in the early 2000s that his retirement would be fraught with risks, so he will try to hold on to power as long as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the trial is unlikely to upset security officers and their commanders who feel safe under \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s protection. These people are likely to defend the regime until the bitter end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Swiss judge\u2019s ruling will not weaken the Belarusian ruler and may even consolidate his security apparatus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it will make a big difference for the families. It will give them hope that the opposition\u2019s effort to break the cycle of impunity can eventually succeed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alexander Friedman The trial of Juryj Hara\u016dski, a former member of the Belarusian interior ministry’s Special Rapid Response Unit (SOBR), in Switzerland may reinvigorate investigations into the disappearances of Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s opponents in the late 1999 and 2000 and give Belarusians hope for justice. Death squad Hara\u016dski will go on trial in St. Gallen, Switzerland, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[24],"class_list":["post-4491","articles","type-articles","status-publish","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHara\u016dski trial: international justice may break cycle of impunity | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Alexander Friedman The trial of Juryj Hara\u016dski, a former member of the Belarusian interior ministry's Special Rapid Response Unit (SOBR), in Switzerland\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/4491\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hara\u016dski trial: international justice may break cycle of impunity | Pozirk\" 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