Yuri Garavsky Was Found Guilty Of Kidnapping Anatoly Krasovsky
- 26.10.2026, 12:52
A former SOBR fighter named the people who gave the orders.
The Cantonal Court of St. Gallen in Switzerland found former Belarusian SOBR fighter Yuri Garavsky guilty of the kidnapping of Anatoly Krasovsky and sentenced him to two years of probation. In the case related to the disappearance of Yuri Zakharenko, Garavsky was acquitted, according to “Novy Chas”
On October 26, a ruling was handed down in Switzerland on the appeal in the case of Yuri Garavsky, a former member of the Special Rapid Response Unit (SOBR) of the Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs. According to reports from the courtroom, Garavsky was found guilty specifically of the kidnapping of Anatoly Krasovsky, not of murder, and was sentenced to two years in prison.
According to preliminary data, three-quarters of the court costs will be paid by the state, and one-quarter by Garavsky. If his financial situation improves, he will be required to reimburse the state for the three-quarters of the costs it paid. The services of the victims’ attorney, Severin Valts, will also be paid for by the state.
Garavsky admitted to involvement in the disappearances
Yuri Garavsky is a former member of the Belarusian Special Forces (SOBR) who had previously admitted to involvement in the abduction of Yuri Zakharenko and Anatoly Krasovsky. Both disappeared in Belarus in the late 1990s; their deaths have not been officially confirmed.
On September 28, 2023, the Rorschach District Court in Switzerland acquitted Garavsky of charges related to numerous enforced disappearances, as well as an alternative charge of obstruction of justice. The court found his testimony to be insufficiently reliable.
Representatives of the victims appealed this decision. They sought a guilty verdict, punishment for the enforced disappearances, and compensation for legal fees. Garavsky’s defense, on the other hand, insisted that the appeal be dismissed.
What Garavsky Said in Court
The appeal hearing took place on September 22, 2026, at the Cantonal Court of St. Gallen. During the hearing, the judge asked Garavsky who had given the order for the abductions.
Garavsky stated that the former commander of the SWAT unit Dmitry Pavlichenko was informed of this by the former Minister of Internal Affairs of Belarus Yuri Sivakov, and that Sivakov had received the order from Alexander Lukashenko and Viktor Sheiman. According to Garavsky, the order was given verbally.
He also stated that on May 7, they detained Yuri Zakharenko and “eliminated him,” and that “Krasovsky was also eliminated.” These statements reflect Garavsky’s own testimony and do not imply that the court found him guilty of murder.
Garavsky was reluctant to answer other questions about the circumstances of the disappearances and refused to answer questions from Severin Valts, the victims’ attorney. He also did not exercise his right to a final statement.
During the hearing, the prosecutor noted that many translation errors had been made during the 2023 trial. In his opinion, to establish the truth, the court should have relied on Garavsky’s testimony given to the prosecutor’s office in 2021.
Garavsky’s attorney argued that the statute of limitations on the case had expired. The victims’ attorney, on the other hand, insisted on the need to hold a specific individual accountable for the crimes, regardless of their nationality or the territory where they were committed.
Relatives of the missing demanded the truth
Present at the hearing were Elena Zakharenko, the daughter of Yuri Zakharenko, as well as Irina and Valeria Krasovskaya. Elena Zakharenko stated that after decades of waiting, she has the right to receive answers about her father’s fate and is awaiting the truth and a fair verdict.
The court did not allow the relatives to speak during the hearing. Following the hearing, Ilya Nuzov, head of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia Division of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), criticized this decision in comments to *Novoye Vremya*.
According to Nuzov, the relatives’ testimony had legal significance, as it could have shed light on the consequences of enforced disappearance for families and their years-long efforts to learn the fate of their loved ones.
The appeal ruling was announced publicly on October 26 in the main courtroom of the St. Gallen Cantonal Court. Details of the sentence, including the terms of the two-year prison term, are still being finalized.