Wednesday 05 May 2021
After violence in Belarus
Complaint against Lukashenko in Germany
Hundreds of thousands of people are protesting against incumbent Lukashenko after the presidential election in Belarus, which is considered to be falsified. Its power apparatus reacts with violence. Now four German lawyers report Lukashenko on behalf of victims of torture to the Federal Prosecutor General in Karlsruhe.
Ruler Alexander Lukashenko has been reported to the Federal Prosecutor General in Karlsruhe because of the excesses of violence after the presidential election in Belarus. According to dpa information, four German lawyers filed a criminal complaint on behalf of victims of torture for crimes against humanity.
“Our clients expect Germany to stand up for the defense of universal human rights in the case of Belarus as well,” declared the lawyers. They called for an independent investigation, which could not be expected in Belarus itself.
The so-called world law principle makes it possible to prosecute international law crimes committed by foreigners in other countries. On this basis, the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz last February sentenced a former employee of the Syrian secret service to four and a half years in prison for aiding and abetting crimes against humanity. In Belarus, neither Lukashenko nor members of his security apparatus were threatened with legal consequences, the lawyers said.
Treatment according to lawyers “bestial”
According to the UN Human Rights Council, there are many reports of torture, kidnappings, arbitrary expulsions and disappearances in Belarus. The lawyers said their ten clients spoke of physical abuse, food and sleep deprivation, humiliation and degradation.
They were left on their knees for hours with their hands tied so that they could only support themselves with their heads. All clients suffered serious health consequences. “Overall, the state treatment can only be described as bestial,” said the lawyers.
After the presidential election last August, which was widely regarded as falsified, hundreds of thousands of people protested against long-term ruler Lukashenko in Belarus. The EU and the US imposed sanctions on Belarus because of the excesses of violence by security forces against peaceful demonstrators. More than 30,000 people were temporarily arrested during the protests. Hundreds of people were injured and several were killed. The opposition sees the opposition member Svetlana Tichanovskaya, who fled to the EU country Lithuania, as the true winner of the election.
.