Criminal Case Opened Into Genocide Of Belarusian People During World War II
Prosecutor General Andrei Shved announced the initiation of a criminal case to investigate the genocide of the population of Belarus during the Great Patriotic War and in the post-war period, Sputnik Belarus reports.
“With the aim of social and historical justice and the elimination of the “white spots” in history, the strengthening of the constitutional order and national security, the Prosecutor General opened a criminal case over the genocide of the population of Belarus,” said Shved.
According to the official, the decision was based on information about the deaths of millions of Belarusians and other persons as a result of the atrocities by the German occupation authorities and their accomplices. Shved noted that a number of European states are still pursuing an aggressive policy towards the Belarusian state. He explained that the initiation of criminal proceedings is a new stage in the fight against the rehabilitation of Nazism, and “there is no political background” in the decision.
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The Prosecutor General noted that persons accused of genocide should be tried by the competent court of the state where it was committed. The names of the already dead criminals should be made public, and those who are still alive should be brought to justice. According to Shved, Belarus will apply to Nuremberg to obtain a number of documents, as well as to some countries, including Lithuania and Poland.
He noted that Belarus counts on Russia’s assistance in the investigation of the criminal case. “Objectively, we count on the operational assistance of the departments and archives of Russia, where, according to our information, there are a lot of documents about the genocide of Belarusians and other persons who lived on the territory of the BSSR during the Great Patriotic War,” TASS quotes the Shved.
Meanwhile, the Prosecutor General’s Office also plans to carry out excavations in places of mass killings of the civilian population of Belarus.
“With the aim of social and historical justice and the elimination of the “white spots” in history, the strengthening of the constitutional order and national security, the Prosecutor General opened a criminal case over the genocide of the population of Belarus,” said Shved.
According to the official, the decision was based on information about the deaths of millions of Belarusians and other persons as a result of the atrocities by the German occupation authorities and their accomplices. Shved noted that a number of European states are still pursuing an aggressive policy towards the Belarusian state. He explained that the initiation of criminal proceedings is a new stage in the fight against the rehabilitation of Nazism, and “there is no political background” in the decision.
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The Prosecutor General noted that persons accused of genocide should be tried by the competent court of the state where it was committed. The names of the already dead criminals should be made public, and those who are still alive should be brought to justice. According to Shved, Belarus will apply to Nuremberg to obtain a number of documents, as well as to some countries, including Lithuania and Poland.
He noted that Belarus counts on Russia’s assistance in the investigation of the criminal case. “Objectively, we count on the operational assistance of the departments and archives of Russia, where, according to our information, there are a lot of documents about the genocide of Belarusians and other persons who lived on the territory of the BSSR during the Great Patriotic War,” TASS quotes the Shved.
Meanwhile, the Prosecutor General’s Office also plans to carry out excavations in places of mass killings of the civilian population of Belarus.