Former commander of KGB special force becomes deputy head of Belarusian Academy of Sciences
As ordered by Alyaksandr Lukashenka, Major General Aleh Charnyshou is to become deputy chairman of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. The corresponding decree has been published on Tuesday on the official legal portal pravo.by.
Previously, Aleh Charnyszou served as deputy chairman of the Belarusian State Security Committee (KGB); before that, he was the commander of the KGB’s special anti-terrorist unit Alfa. In addition, he was in charge of the KGB Anti-Terrorist Centre for seven years. Charnyshou is reported to hold a postgraduate law degree.
In 2012, the senior officer was blacklisted by the European Union; his name was added to the EU sanctions list again in the wake of the brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters in 2020.
Lukashenka’s decree does not specify what duties and tasks the former chekist would have in the country’s main scientific organisation.
According to the Belarusian independent media, the soldiers of the Alfa unit that was once commanded by Charnyshou might have taken part in the forcible suppression of post-election protests in August; most likely, the unit had its hand in the murder of one of the protesters, Alyaksandr Taraykouski, who was shot down on August 10 in Minsk.
