Yury Zacharanka
This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Belarusian. (April 2020) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
Yury Zakharanka Юрый Мікалаевіч Захаранка | |
---|---|
Minister of Internal Affairs | |
In office July 28, 1994 – October 16, 1995 | |
Prime Minister | Mikhail Chyhir |
Preceded by | Uladzimir Danko |
Succeeded by | Valiantsin Ahalets |
Personal details | |
Born | Vasilyevichy, Soviet Union | January 1, 1952
Political party | United Civic Party of Belarus |
Spouse | Volha Zakharanka |
Children | two daughters |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Soviet Union Belarus |
Branch/service | Law Enforcement |
Rank | Major general (1994) Colonel (1996) |
Commands | Inter-regional Directorate for Combating Organized Crime |
Yury Zakharanka | |
---|---|
Disappeared | May 7, 1999 (aged 47) |
Status | Missing for 24 years, 8 months and 28 days |
Colonel Yury Zakharanka (Belarusian: Юрый Захаранка, Russian: Юрий Захаренко, Yuri Zakharenko; January 1, 1952 – c. 1999) was the Belarusian Minister of Internal Affairs and opposition politician abducted and likely killed in 1999.
Early life
Yury Zakharanka was born in a small town of Vasilyevichy, Rechytsa Raion.
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.[1] Having strong support among top officers in the army and the State Security Committee (KGB)[citation needed], Zakharanka was a dangerous enemy for Lukashenko.[opinion]
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.[2][3] 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.[4]
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, Minister for Sports and Tourism Yuri Sivakov, and Colonel Dmitry Pavlichenko from the Belarus Interior Ministry.[5]
In December 2019, Deutsche Welle 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 and Anatol Krasouski.[6]
See also
References
- ^ Biography at slounik.org
- ^ Oleg Alkaev: Video Records of Zacharanka, Hančar and Krasoŭski’s Murders Exist Indeed
- ^ Orders to Annihilate Zakharenko, Gonchar and Krasovsky Emanated from Sheiman and Sivakov
- ^ Solidarity with Belarus
- ^ "USA, EU declare Belarus officials personas non grata". Pravda. 28 September 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
- ^ "Belarus: How death squads targeted opposition politicians". Deutsche Welle. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
External links
- Articles with short description
- Articles needing translation from Belarusian Wikipedia
- Pages using infobox officeholder with unknown parameters
- Articles with hCards
- All articles with unsourced statements
- Articles with unsourced statements from April 2020
- All articles with minor POV problems
- Articles with minor POV problems from April 2020
- AC with 0 elements
- 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