On September 26, in a comment to Belarus-1 TV channel, Belarusian Foreign Minister
Vladimir Makei
said that he had told UN Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres
that some members of the organization's team in Belarus had used money allocated for people with disabilities to support people involved in the event. protests against Lukashenko.
Human Rights Center "Viasna" reminded that the criminal case under Art.
209 of the Criminal Code (fraud) against representatives of the "Office for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities" was actually initiated for cooperation with the UN.
Director
Siarhei Drazdouski
spent
almost six months
under house arrest, and lawyer
Aleh Hrableuski was
kept behind bars.
Olga Smolyanka
,
director of the Center for Legal Transformation (Lawtrend)
,
said that according to available information, Belarusian security forces also detained and interrogated other members of the UN mission in Belarus.
"As Siarhei Drazdouski wrote on his Facebook page, the reason for their persecution was, in fact, a recommendation to several victims with disabilities and without seeking help from lawyers." At the same time, such activities were carried out by the "Office" in the framework of a joint initiative with the UN in Belarus to provide assistance to people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups. It is important to note that neither Aleh nor Siarhei received any funds from the UN for legal services. A natural question arises, whence then fraud or misappropriation of funds? The answer to which, in my opinion, is obvious. "
On July 31, Aleh Hrableuski and Siarhei Drazdouski were remanded in custody on bail. The case has not been closed, they remain defendants in the criminal case. On August 3, authorities liquidated the Office for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.