In Switzerland, a former member of a Belarusian special forces stood trial for the first time – according to his own statements, he had kidnapped and killed three opposition members. The man has now been acquitted.
An ex-soldier from Belarus who said he was involved in the kidnapping and murder of opposition members was acquitted in Switzerland. Because of many contradictions, the court did not consider it proven that the man was involved in the elimination of dissidents on behalf of the state, as the senior judge explained at the opening of the verdict in St. Gallen.
It is possible that the man only wanted to have a positive influence on his asylum application with his dramatic descriptions. In the trial, the public prosecutor’s office had demanded three years in prison, two of which were suspended.
Human rights organizations spoke of a milestone. It was the first time that events in Belarus under the ruler Alexander Lukashenko were discussed in court.
Member of a death squad
In his asylum application in Switzerland and in the media, Yuri Garavski stated that he was a member of a death squad that kidnapped and killed the former Interior Minister Yuri Zakharenko, the ex-head of the electoral commission Viktor Gonchar and the businessman Anatoly Krassovsky in 1999 on behalf of the state. The men have since disappeared and their fate is officially unknown. Lukashenko was already in power at that time.
Two daughters of disappeared people present at the trial did not doubt the defendant’s statements.
It is important for the people of Belarus that the investigation took place at all, said Pavel Sapelka, a leading member of the human rights organization Viasna from Belarus, who lives in exile, before the verdict was announced. “This is an important step on the way to the main trial when the defendant Lukashenko stands trial one day.”
“Deeply regret my role”
Garawski fled to Switzerland in 2018 and applied for asylum. He made his case public in a Deutsche Welle film. The organization “Trial International” in Geneva, which fights against impunity for such crimes, recognized his place of residence and got the trial rolling.
“I deeply regret my role,” the defendant said in court. In conversations with the media, he presented himself as a key witness against the Lukashenko government. His asylum application was rejected. He is tolerated in Switzerland because his life would be in danger if he were deported.