From 1994 to 1997, Dzmitry Zavadski worked as a personal cameraman of Belarusian president Alyaksandr Lukashenka. Later, he started working for the Russian television.
He disappeared on the morning of 7 July 2,000 on the way to the national airport Minsk-2, where he was to meet his colleague Pavel Sharamet. Mr Zavadski’s car was found in the airport, but it is still unknown what happened to him. The body of Dzmitry has never been found. At that time he was 27 years old.
The reason for the abduction could have been the work of Mr Zavadski in Chechnya in 1999-2000, during the filming of The Chechen Diary, Pavel Sharamet believes. Mr Zavadski is supposed to have collected information about the actions of the Belarusian special forces, who at that time were in Chechnya.
Belsat TV film about the abducted and allegedly assassinated opponents of the regime:
Officially, the case was fully investigated. According to the investigators, the journalist was kidnapped by former employees of the Interior Ministry Special Forces Unit Almaz, Valer Ihnatovich and Maxim Malik, as well as Alyaksei Guz, a former student of the Academy of Ministry of Interior, and Syarhei Savushkin who had repeatedly been on trial before that. Ihnatovich and Malik were sentenced to life imprisonment, Guz – to 25 years in prison, Savushkin – to 12 years (now he is at liberty).
The trial was held in camera, that is why no evidence of guilt has ever been published. According to independent investigators into the case, it is the ordinary performers who were tried and sentenced; rumour has it that the real organizers of the crime were Viktar Sheyman, a former chairman of the Security Council, Yury Sivakou, a former Interior Minister and Dzmitry Paulichenka, an ex-commander of Special Rapid Deployment Force. They are still banned from entering the USA and EU member ccountries.
In 1999-2000, the activity of the so-called death squad allegedly resulted in abductions of Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s opponents – politician Viktar Hanchar, businessman Anatol Krasouski and former Interior Minister Yury Zakharanka.
Turn English subtitles on
