Yury Zacharanka
 | You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Belarusian. (April 2020) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
Yury Zakharanka | |
|---|---|
| Юрый Захаранка | |
| Minister of Internal Affairs | |
| In office 28 July 1994 – 16 October 1995 | |
| President | Mikhail Chyhir |
| Preceded by | Uladzimir Danko |
| Succeeded by | Valiantsin Ahalets |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 January 1952 United Civic Party of Belarus |
| Spouse | Volha Zakharanka |
| Children | two daughters |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Soviet Union Belarus |
| Branch/service | Law Enforcement |
| Rank | Major general (1994) Colonel (1996) |
| Commands | Inter-regional Directorate for Combating Organized Crime |
| Disappeared | 7 May 1999 (aged 47) |
| Status | Missing for 24 years, 4 months and 5 days |
Colonel Yury Mikalevich Zakharanka (
Early life
Yury Zakharanka was born in a small
Zakharanka has a daughter with Volha Zakharanka.[2]
Political career
At the moment when Belarus gained independence Zakharanka was deputy chief of the USSR MVD Inter-regional Directorate for Combating Organized Crime. In 1994 he was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs of Belarus. On October 16, 1995 he was dismissed from this position by president Alexander Lukashenko. Zakharanka joined the opposition to the president and was elected member of the governing board of the United Civic Party of Belarus.[3] Having strong support among top officers in the army and the State Security Committee (KGB)[citation needed], Zakharanka was a dangerous enemy for Lukashenko.[opinion]
Abduction
The ex-minister
In September 2004, the European Union and the United States issued travel bans for five Belarusian officials suspected of being involved in the kidnapping of Zakharanka: Interior Affairs Minister Vladimir Naumov, Prosecutor General Viktor Sheiman, Minister for Sports and Tourism Yuri Sivakov, and Colonel Dmitry Pavlichenko from the Belarus Interior Ministry.[7]
In December 2019, Deutsche Welle published a documentary film in which Yury Harauski, a former member of the Special Rapid Response Unit, confirmed that it was his unit that had arrested, taken away and murdered Zakharanka, and that they later did the same with Viktar Hanchar and Anatol Krasouski.[8] Harauski fled to Switzerland in 2018, seeking asylum.[9] In 2023 Harauski was arrested and charged with the forced disappearance of Zacharanka, Hanchar and Krasouski.[9] Harauski's trial in a Swiss court opened on 19 September 2023.[9]
See also
References
- ^ Соўсь, Ганна (2021-05-09). "Хто, як і чаму? 20 гадоў таму выкралі экс-міністра ўнутраных справаў Захаранку". Радыё Свабода (in Belarusian). Retrieved 2023-08-09.
- ^ "22 years since the disappearance of Yury Zacharanka". Фонд "СТРАНА ДЛЯ ЖИЗНИ". Retrieved 2023-08-09.
- ^ Biography at slounik.org
- ^ Oleg Alkaev: Video Records of Zacharanka, Hančar and Krasoŭski’s Murders Exist Indeed
- ^ Orders to Annihilate Zakharenko, Gonchar and Krasovsky Emanated from Sheiman and Sivakov
- ^ Solidarity with Belarus
- ^ "USA, EU declare Belarus officials personas non grata". Pravda. 28 September 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
- ^ "Belarus: How death squads targeted opposition politicians". Deutsche Welle. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
- ^ a b c "Former Belarus 'hit squad' member to stand trial in Switzerland". BBC News. 19 September 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
"Belarus ex-police stands trial over vanished Lukashenko opponents". France24. 19 September 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
External links
- Where are Belarus' disappeared oppositionists? on hri.org
- Zakharanka case on Charter97.org
- Oleg Alkaev: Video Records of Zakharenko, Gonchar and Krasovsky’s Murders Exist Indeed
- Orders to Annihilate Zakharenko, Gonchar and Krasovsky Emanated from Sheiman and Sivakov
- Solidarity with Belarus
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
