Colonel Yury Zakharanka (
Belarusian
Belarusian may refer to:
* Something of, or related to Belarus
* Belarusians, people from Belarus, or of Belarusian descent
* A citizen of Belarus, see Demographics of Belarus
* Belarusian language
* Belarusian culture
* Belarusian cuisine
* Byelor ...
: ''Юрый Захаранка'',
Russian: ''Юрий Захаренко'', ''Yuri Zakharenko''; January 1, 1952 – 1999) was the
Belarusian
Minister of Internal Affairs
Minister may refer to:
* Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric
** Minister (Catholic Church)
* Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department)
** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...
and opposition politician abducted and likely killed in 1999.
Early life
Yury Zakharanka was born in a small town of
Vasilyevichy,
Rechytsa Raion
Rechytsa District, Rečycki Raion ( be, Рэчыцкі раён) is a district in Gomel Region, Belarus. Its administrative center is Rechytsa
, nickname =
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.
Political career
At the moment when
Belarus gained independence Zakharanka was deputy chief of the USSR
MVD Inter-regional Directorate for Combating Organized Crime. In 1994 he was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs of Belarus. On October 16, 1995 he was dismissed from this position by president
Alexander Lukashenko. Zakharanka joined the opposition to the president and was elected member of the governing board of the
United Civic Party of Belarus. Having strong support among top officers in the army and the
State Security Committee (KGB), Zakharanka was a dangerous enemy for Lukashenko.
Abduction
The ex-minister
disappeared on the evening of May 7, 1999. The state did not make serious attempts to search for the politician. Several years later the former MVD official Aleh Alkaeu fled to Germany and stated that he was witness to Zakharanka and several other abducted opposition leaders being murdered on the orders of top government officials. In commemoration of the abducted politicians and political prisoners of Belarus, the Belarusian opposition and its supporters have
The Day of Solidarity with Belarus on the 16th of every month.
In September 2004, the
European Union and the
United States issued travel bans for five Belarusian officials suspected of being involved in the kidnapping of Zakharanka: Interior Affairs Minister
Vladimir Naumov, Prosecutor General
Viktor Sheiman
Viktor Vladimirovich Sheiman ( be, Віктар Уладзіміравіч Шэйман, translit=Viktar Uladzimiravich Sheyman, russian: Виктор Владимирович Шейман, translit=Viktor Vladimirovich Sheyman; born 26 May 195 ...
, Minister for Sports and Tourism
Yuri Sivakov Yuri may refer to:
People and fictional characters
Given name
*Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc.
*Yuri (Japanese name), also Yūri, feminine Jap ...
, and Colonel
Dmitry Pavlichenko
Dmitri Valeriyevich Pavlichenko ( be, Дзьмітры Валер'евіч Паўлічэнка, russian: Дмитрий Валерьевич Павличенко; alternative spellings: ''Dmitry, Dzmitry, Dzmitri, Vasilyevich, Pavliuchenko, Pawliu ...
from the Belarus Interior Ministry.
In December 2019,
Deutsche Welle
Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave" in English), abbreviated to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service con ...
published a documentary film in which Yury Harauski, a former member of a special unit of the
Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs, confirmed that it was his unit that had arrested, taken away and murdered Zakharanka, and that they later did the same with
Viktar Hanchar
Viktar Hanchar, or Viktar Hančar ( be, Віктар Ганчар, russian: Виктор Гончар, Viktor Gonchar, September 7, 1957 – September 16, 1999?) was a Belarusian politician who disappeared and was presumably murdered in 1999. He w ...
and Anatol Krasouski.
See also
*
List of people who disappeared
Lists of people who disappeared include those whose current whereabouts are unknown, or whose deaths are unsubstantiated. Many people who disappear are eventually declared dead ''in absentia''. Some of these people were possibly subjected to enfo ...
References
External links
Where are Belarus' disappeared oppositionists?on hri.org
Zakharanka case on Charter97.orgOleg Alkaev: Video Records of Zakharenko, Gonchar and Krasovsky’s Murders Exist IndeedOrders to Annihilate Zakharenko, Gonchar and Krasovsky Emanated from Sheiman and SivakovSolidarity with Belarus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zakharanka, Yury
1952 births
1990s missing person cases
Belarusian generals
Interior ministers of Belarus
Missing people
Missing person cases in Belarus
People from Rechytsa District
United Civic Party of Belarus politicians
Year of death unknown