This was announced on November 19 by the head of the Belarus Interior Ministry, Ihar Shunevich, Euroradio reports.
“We are verifying facts. They will in the near future conclude with criminal proceedings under the relevant articles of the Criminal Code against a specific number of people who take part in fighting on different sides of the conflict in Donbas.”
The data is being collected for documenting the “mercenary” activities. According to Shunevich, collection of these materials is carried out in relation to a group of about 20 people, although nearly a hundred fought in Donbas.
“For us it is unimportant, on whose side the person fights – it is important that a person violates our Belarusian law. Therefore, in the group that I mentioned, there are those who are fighting on the side of the Ukrainian government, and those who are fighting on the side of the DPR/LPR. It’s hard to say whether the fact of committing “war crimes” will have implications for a court verdict … I think in the first place the we will consider the existence of a “mercenary” crime. If the offense under this article will be confirmed, then I do not exclude that a person can get condemned under this article. And the form in which the mercenary activities was carried out, in my opinion, will be not be so important.”
Not each of them will have a criminal investigation launched against them. Shunevich says that it all depends on how well they will be able to collect the materials and how sufficient the grounds for criminal proceedings will be.
On August 10, in the battles for the independence of Ukraine was wounded Belarusian Ales Charkashyn with the call sign “Taras”. Our fellow countryman died on August 28 in the hospital. Hundreds of people came to say good-bye to him in Brest and in Donbas. He posthumously received the Medal of the Ukrainian Church.
