Two years after a presidential election brought Belarus to the brink of revolution, RFE/RL’s Belarus Service has launched a deep-digging podcast series that provides stark insights into the state clampdown that staved off the challenge from an unprecedented democratic opposition movement.
20.01.2021, 11:50
Pavel Sheremet
Former employee of the Belarusian special forces “Almaz”
Ihar Makar, who published a record with some speakers discussing the murder of journalist
Pavel Sheremet, testified in Ukraine. He himself told about this in an interview with “Nastoyascheye Vremya”.
Makar, an opposition activist and spokesman for the Belarusian People s Tribunal, was the one who provided EUobserver with a recording of a 2012 conversation with speakers discussing the murder of Pavel Sheremet. The 24-minute recording was allegedly made in the office of the head of the KGB during a meeting dedicated to the beginning of the work of the secret seventh department of the anti-terrorist unit “Alpha”. According to Makar s sources, the “Alpha” special unit was created in 2012, among other things, to solve tasks of terror and eliminate political competitors. In 2008-2012, the KGB of Belarus was headed by
The study was conducted by a reputable Criminal Investigation laboratory.
A study by the St. Petersburg Independent Inspection Services “Criminalistic Laboratory of Audiovisual Documents” confirmed the authenticity of the audio recording in which the head of the KGB of Belarus in 2008-2012
Vadzim Zaitsau planned a series of assassinations.
The expertise was ordered by the TV channel “Nastoyashcheye Vremya”.
Three men, one of whom was Vadzim Zaitsau, discuss poisoning and blasting with the help of “caches” of political emigrants from Belarus. “Elimination . should be so natural that then no expert should [find fault]. Just a targeted strike,” Zaitsau says.
A hidden recording of the conversation was published on January 4 by EUObserver, but it was impossible to confirm its authenticity due to poor quality.