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Minsk to invite OSCE experts to join investigation of Byabenin`s death

The Belarusian authorities will invite forensic experts of OSCE member countries to join the investigation of journalist Aleh Byabenin`s recent death, Andrey Savinykh, spokesman for the foreign ministry, told reporters in Minsk on Thursday, as quoted by BelaPAN.

A Belarusian delegation is to make a statement about the matter at a plenary meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna later on Thursday, the spokesman said.

The 36-year-old journalist, one of the prominent figures of an opposition group called Khartyya-97 (Charter’97) and the founder and director of the news website charter97.org, was found hanged in his summer house near Minsk on September 3. Police have said that the journalist committed suicide, but his associates insist that he had no reason to kill himself.

“Belarus’ competent agencies have approached the investigation of the death in the most competent manner,” Mr. Savinykh said. “The invitation of foreign experts is an unprecedented step for not only Belarus but also European countries. It has been prompted by our concern about the insinuations that not only the media but also international institutions are making.”

Mr. Savinykh said that the ambassadors of foreign countries were invited to the foreign ministry in the morning to be informed about Minsk’s intention.

As Alyaksandr Danilchanka, spokesman for the Minsk regional police department, told BelaPAN last Saturday, Mr. Byabenin’s body was found “hanging in a self-made noose from the stairways leading to the second floor, with a stool knocked over on the floor.”

He is believed to have committed suicide and there are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances, Mr. Danilchanka said, noting that no marks of violence were found on the body.

“Neighbors said they had not seen any people other than Byabenin in the house on that day,” Mr. Danilchanka said.

A post-mortem has established that journalist Aleh Byabenin died of asphyxia resulting from strangulation by a noose, Syarhey Kawryha, prosecutor of the Dzyarzhynsk district, told BelaPAN on Saturday.

The examination has not found any bodily injuries other than a ligature mark on the neck, Mr. Kawryha said.

It is unclear when the death occurred. Police experts who examined the scene on Saturday estimated that Mr. Byabenin died at about 2 p.m. on September 3, whereas the death certificate later issued to the family dated the death to September 2.

The president of the European Parliament, the rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on Belarus and the OSCE representative on freedom of the media have called for a full and transparent investigation into the death of Mr. Byabenin. Journalists’ associations and human rights watchdogs expressed their concern about the circumstances of the death.