President Alyaksandr Lukashenka appointed Colonel Khazalbek Atabekov Deputy Commander of internal police troops.
Atabekov is notorious for being involved in the dispersal of the peaceful post-election protests on 19 December 2010. Later, he was later slapped with the EU sanctions.
Over the recent years, Khazalbek Atabekov has been First Deputy Head of the combat and operational training of the Internal Troops Commander’s Headquarters. Earlier, Colonel led the third separate special purpose brigade of internal troops – it is better known as military unit Nr 3214. As a riot police commander, he participated in the crackdown on the presidential election day when internal troops brutally detained and beat them.
In March 2012, Khazalbek Atabekov was blacklisted by the EU for the excessive use of force against peaceful protesters. In 2015, the EE suspended the sanctions and then completely removed them.
The documentary by Vyachaslau Rakitski and Andrey Kutsila “Enough! To Freedom…’ tells the stories of Belarusians who lost their jobs and right to study after Ploshcha-2018, who were subject to physical and moral torture:
belsat.eu
