Юрий Гаравский. Скриншот видео DW
An appeal hearing in the case of former SOBR officer Yury Harauski, who is accused of involvement in the enforced disappearances of three Belarusian opposition politicians in 1999, will take place on June 24 in St. Gallen, Switzerland. The information was reported by the human rights center Viasna, which wrote about the case.
In 2019, Harauski publicly admitted to journalists that he had been involved in the disappearances of former Interior Minister Yury Zakharanka, former Deputy Prime Minister Viktar Hanchar and businessman Anatol Krasouski. Nevertheless, in September 2023, a district court in Rorschach acquitted him. The judge concluded that Haravski had fabricated some parts of his testimony and said his exact role in the abductions remained unclear.
Alena Zakharanka, the daughter of one of the disappeared politicians and a plaintiff in the case, expressed hope that the appellate court would examine the defendant’s testimony more carefully. According to her, the proceedings in the court of first instance were marred by numerous translation errors.
“The hearing in the court of first instance was compromised. I heard many translation mistakes. I hope that the appellate court will give the defendant and his statements the attention they deserve,” she said.
The criminal complaint was filed in the spring of 2021 by relatives of the victims with the support of TRIAL International, the International Federation for Human Rights and the Viasna Human Rights Center.
Despite the acquittal, the case is considered a landmark one. The court recognized the fact that the three men had been abducted and killed and found that representatives of the Belarusian authorities were involved in the crimes. It was also the first time that crimes committed in Belarus were examined by a Swiss court under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
“I hope this case can become a positive example in international legal practice. Unfortunately, enforced disappearances are widespread, and every person who has lost a loved one as a result of this crime hopes for justice,” said Valeryia Krasouskaya, daughter of one of the disappeared men and a plaintiff in the case.
The case was also commented on by Viasna founder and chairman Ales Bialiatski.
“Awareness must be raised about the scale and true nature of the crimes committed by the Lukashenka regime. This case is the first opportunity in more than three decades of dictatorship to ensure that some of the regime’s gravest crimes are finally recognized by a court,” he said.