By Marleen Kaesebier
ST GALLEN, Switzerland, Oct 26 (Reuters) – A Swiss court on Monday found a former Belarusian security officer guilty over the abduction of businessman Anatoly Krasovsky, an opponent of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko.
Yuri Harauski, who has admitted involvement in the abductions more than two decades ago of three of Lukashenko’s opponents who were later killed, was however acquitted over the kidnapping of former Belarusian Interior Minister Yuri Zakharenko.
Harauski now faces two years on probation in Switzerland, a sentence that was reduced because of his cooperation and comprehensive confession, the court said.
Rights groups say the ruling is the first conviction anywhere of a member of Belarus’ security forces. It came after the daughters of two of the victims appealed his 2023 acquittal.
Harauski had originally confessed in a Deutsche Welle interview in 2019 that while he was working in a special police unit called SOBR in Belarus in 1999, he had been involved in the abductions of three people.
A Swiss court had ruled three years ago that Harauski’s alleged role had not been legally proven because he had made contradictory statements over time.
The court said on Monday that Harauski’s confessions were credible and in the case of Krasovsky, his intent and knowledge of the violent abduction and subsequent killing were clear. In the case of Zakharenko this intent could not be established, it said.
FIRST SUCH CONVICTION
“Even if it’s a partial victory, it’s the first conviction anywhere in the world of a member of the Belarusian security forces,” said Philip Grant, founder of rights group Trial International, which had supported the daughters of Krasovsky and Zakharenko.
The case is the first in which the Swiss courts, applying the principle of universal jurisdiction, have tried charges of enforced disappearance or alleged crimes committed in Belarus.
Lukashenko’s government has rejected criticism of its human rights record from the UN and rights groups, and denies holding political prisoners.
“An accountability gap has been closed,” said Severin Walz, lawyer for the daughters of Zakharenko and Krasovsky. “My clients feel very relieved.”
There was no comment on Monday from Harauski’s lawyer.
The verdict could be appealed one more time, which would take the case to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court.
(Reporting by Marleen Kaesebier, editing by Linda Pasquini and Keith Weir)
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