Belarusian man back in Swiss court over disappearance of 3 Lukashenko opponents

‌A ​lawyer representing relatives of opposition figures who disappeared in Belarus in 1999 and are presumed to have been killed urged a Swiss court on Tuesday to reverse the acquittal of a former Belarusian security officer. The man, Yuri Harauski, confessed ‌in a 2019 interview with Deutsche Welle that he was involved in the abductions of three people while working in a special police unit called SOBR.

However, he was acquitted at his initial trial in Switzerland in 2023. A court ruled then that his alleged role was not legally proven because he had made contradictory statements at ‌different times. At Tuesday's hearing in the eastern Swiss city of St Gallen,

lawyers for both sides said the inconsistencies were largely due to incorrect translations ‌at the first trial. Poorly translated military terms were, for example, taken to indicate a lack of military knowledge, the plaintiff's lawyer said, while Harauski's lawyer said her client was made to look like a liar.

Harauski often responded to questions with the phrase "I've said that before". The verdict on the appeal is expected in the coming weeks. Alena Zakharenka, daughter of one of the men who disappeared, told ⁠reporters she ​was not optimistic, given the lack of ⁠new information from Harauski.

"I had hope (before), but now very little," she said. Her lawyers expressed disappointment that the daughters were not allowed to testify by the court.

LANDMARK CASE FOR SWITZERLAND The case is ⁠the first in which the Swiss courts, applying the principle of universal jurisdiction, have tried cases of enforced disappearance or alleged crimes committed in Belarus.

Harauski had come to Switzerland ​as an asylum seeker, arguing he would face imprisonment and that his life was at risk in Belarus due to his willingness to speak ⁠out about what the SOBR unit did. In his 2019 interview, he admitted to involvement in the detention of ex-Belarusian interior minister Yuri Zakharenko, former deputy prime minister Viktor Gonchar and businessman Anatoly Krosovsky, but denied ⁠ordering ​or carrying out their murders. All three were taken away and shot by the SOBR special police unit, he said.

Human rights campaigners see the case as a rare opportunity to expose abuses under President Alexander Lukashenko, who has run the former Soviet state since 1994 and is a close ally of Russia's Vladimir ⁠Putin. Lukashenko's government has rejected criticism of its human rights record from the UN and rights groups, and denies holding political prisoners.

"This case is the first opportunity ⁠in more than 30 years of dictatorship ⁠to get some of the gravest crimes of the regime finally recognised before a court of law," said Ales Bialiatski, director of human rights group Viasna. The initial trial found that the role of the Belarusian government in the disappearances ‌could not be established ‌beyond reasonable doubt as it had not been represented in the proceedings.