2023-09-19 09:55:29
For the first time, alleged crimes committed on behalf of the state in authoritarian Belarus are being heard by an independent court in Switzerland. Yuri Garawski appeared before the Rorschach District Court on Tuesday morning. He said he was a member of a special Interior Ministry unit that murdered three opposition figures in 1999. Human rights activists describe the process as historic.
The court must determine whether Garawski acted “on behalf of or with the approval of a state or a political organization.” It is also the first time that alleged death squads in Belarus are being heard by an independent court.
Garawski fled to Switzerland. The public prosecutor’s office has requested three years in prison, two of which are suspended. Because of the high level of public interest, the trial did not take place in Rorschach, but in the larger rooms of the cantonal court in St. Gallen.
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