‘Sometimes unconditional submission is needed’. Interior Minister about bullying in Belarus army

Interior Minister Ihar Shunevich told reporters about his attitude to bullying in the army.

“I served three years in the navy, and I know that the order in military units is provided by not only officers in charge, but also junior commanders. It is them on whom the issue of dedovschina [hazing] depends. Sometimes unconditional submission is needed, but dividing duties among soldiers should be fair. Humiliation, bullying of new soldeirs is a shame for us all. If such a need arises, all men in uniform may fall into the same line someday,” he said.

Shunevich declined to comment on rumors about his nomination for a post of Defense Minister. Interestingly, he hardly hides his affection for Josef Stalin and Soviet chekists, which can be seen in numerous interviews. Dressed in NKVD uniform, he showed up in public.

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By mid October, over 10,000 persons had signed the online petition demanding the resignation of Defense Minister Andrey Raukou. However, the petition was blocked after the ministry’s complaints.

The Belarusian Ministry of Defense has faced a massive public outrage after the death of conscript Alyaksandr Korzhych.

The 21-year-old soldier was found hanged in the basement in the territory of a military unit in Pechy, his legs were tied up. According to the family and friends, senior conscripts bullied, battered and tortured the young man to squeeze money out of him. As a result, they allegedly killed him and then faked his suicide.

There are now ten suspects (7 NCOs, a company commander, and 2 officers) in the case that the Investigation Committee confidently called a suicide. Recently, it became known that the Investigative Committee opened criminal cases under Article 443 (hazing), 455 (failure of authorities to act, resulting in grave consequences), 209 (fraud) of the Criminal Code of Belarus.

ІІ, belsat.eu