Arrests go on. High official of Prosecutor General’s Office detained (Updated)
- 21.01.2009, 12:22
A warrant for arrest of the former head of the department of security of the Prosecutor General’s Office has been issued.
Prosecutor General Ryhor Vasilevich said it at a press conference on January 21.
According to him, the official is suspected in bribery, the offence was committed in 2007.
Information has appeared today that the Prosecutor General’s Office arrested Anatol Hramovich, former director of the Financial Investigations Department of the State Control Committee.
The grounds for arrest of the former FID head were charging him under one of the most serious articles of the Criminal Code of Belarus, Article 285 Part 3 (founding of a criminal organisation or participation in a criminal organisation of an official using his authority). This article envisages up to 15 years of imprisonment. The charges are related to the period of A. Hramovich’s activities when he was a deputy head of the State Security (KGB) directorate in Brest region.
Former prosecutor Snyahir has been charged.
The investigation has charged former prosecutor of the Minsk region Mikhail Snyahir with abuse of power.
Prosecutor General of Belarus Ryhor Vasilevich said it at a press conference in Minsk, Interfax reports.
“Snyahir is presented an accusation in part 3 of article 424 (abuse of power) of the Criminal Code of Belarus,” the Prosecutor General said. He added, ”unfortunately, it has been happened to a officer of the prosecutor’s office.”
Answering questions of journalists on villas of former officers of the Ministry of Internal Affaires, president mentioned at a session in November 2008, R. Vasilevich told: “courts have decided the land was given unlawfully.” R. Vasilevich refused to say anything more on this question, referring to the secrecy of the investigation.
As the Charter’97 press center has informed earlier, on November 13 at consultations on effectiveness of corruption struggle efforts Alyaksandr Lukashenka ordered the Prosecutor General of the country Ryhor Vasilevich to offer the deputy Prosecutor general Mikalay Kupryjanau and Minks region’s prosecutor Mikhail Snyahir to vacate their positions and to initiate a criminal case against them.
In particular, A. Lukashenka stated that in May 2007 M. Snyahir bought from a representative of a commercial firm a 5-room apartment in the centre of Minsk which is more than 200 square metres and has an underground garage. As said by him, “he (Snyahir) bought the apartment from a person who hadn’t a right to represent that firm at that time, and moreover was redundant”. Besides that apartment could not be sold by a legal entity, as a worker of the firm lived there. He has a contract of lease with the firm until 2024.
Lukashenka underlined that the apartment had been bought by Snyahir at a reduced cost, only Br156 million, while its market cost was more than $500,000. In order to put a varnish of legality the operation, nyahir made a false additional agreement to the purchase/sale agreement with a different price, Br535 million.