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market. your business magazine. on t w. 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 bellary 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 politician. where we were acting on orders

we received a spoken order just move anyone had refused to go another would have taken his place and done just the same thing goes for the social business. 41 year old you're eager out ski has requested asylum in another european country he says the secret service in his home country by the roots is after him. and rupert said i love my family behind in 2008 after i was attacked the blue then i realized that my wife and daughter were sacred to me and i'm one of those living so i got divorced and now i'm living alone. and also says it so the. 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. as the bornholmer it's like got information that they wanted to arrest me and put me in prison. labor. i don't want to time make any statements or be accused of something i hadn't done need those accused. of being 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 watched a few meters to his apartment building this reenactment is based on the statements of key witnesses eureka. 2 men followed so he wouldn't be able to run 2

more men who 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 luka 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 grew spello rios 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. of 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 noted who was involved in liquidation on may 7th and who took part in gone charles the good asian on september 16th the grinch who all the people who knew about it and were involved with that are listed here. all the orders were given orally. there's no written evidence no video footage no protocols. but there's nothing like that and.

your reason was only the 1st victim in september 1999 victor gruen char and businessman and a totally krzyzewski 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. visitor shows the military base and. this is where we killed them this would be. the middle of the middle distance there's the road. it's about 200 meters long and leaves about 20 meters into the forest this is that the other it's just. here we killed a gun charge and christophe. would hear about 50 meters away the grave was dug but in the. off their clothing and in here. only their shoes were thrown into the

graves and buried with them. he was a. president look a shingle consolidated his power through 2 controversial referenda in the midnight 190 s. good in 1960 fichter gooden charge chaired the central election commission but he turned against the president hoping to prevent look ashamed goes grab for more and more power $1000.00 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 char 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 have the proof. of justice. and later told us we had to eliminate him.

because of this compromising material. and present are the most prominent victims of 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 oppositions the relieving lights. there's regret and a feeling of guilt if these people were stored live better rooms would be a different place today. western germany yuri's the 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 that 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 a 1st judgment on that. christos redoes an andre got to learn here the key witnesses statement poker 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 an evidence against

investigation that iris seems very small or that's a problem it's impossible for these abductions. to have taken place we thought. the concept to put it mildly of very very high your fish. and when i say very high your fish else. 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 this president was not welcome in the west for years that changed in november 2019 when austrian president alexander fandor belen

received the dictator in vienna but the recent accusations that lucas 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. the commander a colonel from the interior ministry did the shooting. has something to say to the victim's family. i'd like to express my sincere regret that i participated in the murder. i apologize to you. i can point out the grave sites on the mount because. everything else depends on you and our belarusians justice system.

these words of remorse may come as a shock to some family members. on the hook to kill can i accept them. early. it wasn't what i thought they'd chosen people for the liquidation who didn't have any families in bell or ruse. so they could eliminate them afterwards as well. most of us lifting daughter to the gloomy outlook i'm surprised that a witness has turned up who speaks openly about it. up close. it took elaine some time to find words for the man who had abetted the murder of her father. if he knew and. he would say it so it's not about him. he must cause that it's about the whole system behind him it is what it says

he can't be blamed for anything on up you know people like him are dependent on the system just their force to carry out his bloody crime scene. 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 bork to. be 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 leipzig the witnesses' statements are producing results the state prosecutor and men reopened the 20 year old case an investigation is underway .

to catch up. it's a major test of camaraderie among the 5. it's going. to. want to. thank. you. it has been. called. much of the country's politics and society. their objective is to create a theocracy. among just countries teeters on the brink of a new conflict levanon country tell us.

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