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biodiversity species conservation exploitation oladi. human rights displacement. current local art. 3000. the body. a few brave souls gather to commemorate 3 politicians who vanished without a trace over 20 years ago there holding their vigil in minsk capital of. now a key witness has broken his silence as a member of a special unit he himself took part in the abduction and murder of the opposition politicians. we were acting on orders we received

a spoken order used to move if anyone had refused another would have taken his place and done just the same thing goes through the social disorder. 41 year old europe has requested asylum in another european country he says the secret service in his home country by the rules is after him. i left my family behind in 2008 after i was attacked the blue then i realized that my wife and daughter were sacred to me. living there so i got divorced and now i'm living alone. so there. yuri no longer felt safe in his own country because he decided to speak out and unburden his soul as he puts

it now he's afraid his former comrades at the security agency are coming for him. and i got information that they wanted to arrest me and put me in prison. to live but. i didn't want to time make any statements or be accused of something i had done neither was a kid the book. is a story of doing on them. yuri was involved in a crime that still haunts many people in eastern europe. on may 7th 1999 near the old fire lookout tower in downtown minsk former interior minister yuri's that got out of his car. was a leading figure in the opposition as usual he walks the few meters to his apartment building this reenactment is based on the statements of key witness yuri . 2 men followed so he wouldn't be able to run 2 more men blocked his path in

front they were officers in plain clothes. one said come along police. at the time tensions were running high in minsk the former interior minister your reason turned against lucas schenkel people were taking to the streets in thousands hoping to stop the country's descent into dictatorship although my dear friends black ravens are circling over our country. and so yesterday. the national congress met to protect the constitution and oppose dictatorship. alexander lukashenko bruce bello rules with an iron fist and the support of several elite units including the sober allegedly for him to combat organized crime but

says he witnessed eureka it has violently quassia the political opposition. to the russkie came to the unit at age 18 through his military service now he's making scathing accusations this is here in the summary i've noted who is involved because liquidation on may 7th and who took part and gone charles a condition on september 16th the going should all be who all the people who knew about it and one fault with that are listed here. all the orders were given orally. the media. there's no written evidence no video footage that you know protocols. but there's nothing like that and.

your reason was only the 1st victim in september in 1909 victims in charge and businessmen on a totally crazy off ski were abducted near santa number 3 in minsk they were also members of the opposition and planning to remove the president from office the witness confirms both were liquidated. is a picture shows the military base and. this is where we killed them this would be the. middle of the middle. there is the road. it's about 200 meters long and leaves about 20 meters into the forest this is that the myth of p.t. just to hear we killed gun charge and christophe. would hear about 50 meters away the grave was dug but in the. off their clothing and burned here. only their

shoes were thrown into the graves and buried with them. is a. president look at consolidated his power through to controversial referenda in the midnight $190.00 s. good in 1996 victor good in charge chair of the central election commission but he turned against the president hoping to prevent look ashamed goes grab for more and more power. 1000 dollar bounty was paid for his murder as the key witness from the death squad tells that they were even given a reason why green char had to disappear from north america running. about and shar when they later told us yet evidence that had come to power illegitimately. that the vote in 1906 or $97.00 had been rigged and could charge had the proof. and later they told us we had to eliminate him. because of this compromising

material. and present are the most prominent victims of look at those regimes so far but they're certainly not the only ones every year as a vigil is held in minsk for the victims many prospects for a democratic future disappeared along with the opposition the relieving lights. there's regret and a feeling of guilt if these people were stored live bellerose would be a different place today. western germany yuri's a cairo family lives in exile here his wife 2 daughters and grandchildren he's never seen. yellin as that is the eldest daughter she works as

a sales clerk she's the only one of the family to speak openly about their fate she came to germany a year after her father's disappearance this is the 1st cairo has heard about the key witness his statement and the details of her father's death. of course it's hard to hear all this and see the gravesites not to mention to hear all about how it happened you'd have to have nerves of steel for that. but do the statements check out the council of europe in strasburg could pass the 1st judgement on that. christos program readers and andre got to learn here the key witnesses statement polgar readers is a criminal defense lawyer from cyprus he investigated the politicians disappearances for the council 15 years ago got to learn is working on the cases today the council of europe tracks human rights abuses and keeps an especially close eye on belarus. their ability we have today to run and instigate

investigation that iris seems very small that's a problem it's impossible for these abductions. to have taken place we. put it mildly of. very high your fish. and when i say very high your fishes. my mind goes to the president. maybe he knew maybe he didn't i can't say for sure either way but i think you know. as serious as the allegation is it can hardly touch alexander lukashenko as president was not welcome in the west for years that changed in november 2019 when

austrian president alexander found a bell and received the dictator in vienna but the recent argues ations that look ordered the liquidation of his adversaries may well strain any reproach me with the west. a great deal about the death squads activities remains unknown even after your. statements he claims to have simply passed on the gun used the commander a colonel from the interior ministry did the shooting. has something to say to the victims' families. i'd like to express my sincere regret that i participated in the murder. i apologize to you. because i can point out the grave sites on the mount. and everything else depends on you and our belarusians justice system. and.

these words of remorse may come as a shock to some family members. on the hook to kill can i accept them. anybody and what i thought they'd chosen people for the liquidation who didn't have any families in bellary use. so they could eliminate them afterwards as well. most of us lifting of the gloomy outram surprised that a witness has turned up who speaks openly about it. up close. it took elaine as a person time to find words for the man who had abetted the murder of her father. at the new and. if you boil it so it says it's not about him. but it's about the whole system behind him and. he can't be blamed for anything i'm not but you know

people like him are dependent on the system because they're forced to carry out these bloody crimes. even if i were to say something to him i couldn't say it to the thousands of others who acted together with him recently mr aboard. the abducted men haven't been forgotten elsewhere in europe. in the netherlands human rights activists from amnesty international have planted trees to commemorate them and an hour long vigil is held every year in the memorial grove in la the witnesses' statements are producing results the state prosecutor in minsk has reopened the 20 year old case an investigation is underway.

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