Belarus’s Prosecutor General’s Office has referred the criminal case against Aliaksandr Buhlai to the Supreme Court. He is accused of committing genocide against the Belarusian people during World War II. The case against him has been separated into special proceedings.
According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, Buhlai headed a paramilitary unit known as the “White Team”. It was later reorganised into a company and then into a battalion, which from December 1943 became known as the Buhlai Volunteer Combat Battalion.
According to the case materials, Buhlai served in armed formations attached to the 551st Field Commandant’s Office and the Homiel Field Gendarmerie, carrying out orders from the Nazi leadership. In the Homiel, Minsk and Mahiliou regions, he organised and carried out punitive operations under the pretext of fighting Soviet partisans.
The prosecution alleges that these actions resulted in the execution of at least 174 civilians, including at least 27 children, the burning of at least 238 homes and other buildings, the theft of local residents’ property, and the deportation of at least 77 people for forced labour.
The investigative team said it had gathered evidence supporting the charges.
This is the eighth criminal case referred to court after being separated from the main case on the genocide of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War. Earlier, posthumous verdicts were handed down against Uladzimir Katriuk, Kanstantsin Smouski, Syamon Serafimovich, Osip Vinnitski, Aliaksandr Yarmolchyk, Hans Siegling and Antanas Geciavicius.
