Case Against Blogger, Activist Aliaksandr Kabanau Goes Blooey

They decided to drop the trumped-up charges.

The “embezzlement” case against Brest blogger Aliaksandr Kabanau was opened in March this year. In July, the investigation was terminated, and in October it was resumed again.

“I do not know what it was. In this case, I was only summoned to the police, but I did not go. After that they didn’t touch me at all, and yesterday I found out that the case was closed due to the lack of corpus delicti,” Aliaksandr Kabanau told Brestskaya Gazeta on November 21.

In March this year, the Biaroza district department of the Investigatory Committee instituted criminal proceedings against Kabanau under Part 1 of Article 211 (acquisition or embezzlement) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus.

Then the Investigatory Committee reported that in 2017, Aliaksnadr Kabanau allegedly received money from residents of the house in which he lives, for state registration of a partnership of owners, and the preparation of project documentation for the construction of basements. However, he allegedly took the money, more than 400 rubles, to himself.

The blogger himself explained that he did not appropriate anything. According to him, he had an agreement with the tenants. For some time he was the chairman of the house owners partnership, and residents of each apartment paid him 2 rubles of salary per month - and the above amount was formed.

In July of this year, the investigator informed Aliaksandr Kabanau that the criminal case had been terminated due to the lack of corpus delicti.

In mid-October, the preliminary investigation in the criminal case was resumed by the order of the Prosecutor's Office. Coincidence or not, but this happened during the so-called parliamentary election campaign, and Kabanau became aware of the termination of the case after the end of the so-called elections. Kabanau also intended to run, but he was refused registration as a parliamentary candidate.

Blogger Aliaksandr Kabanau, along with Siarhei Piatrukhin, covers the situation around the construction of the IPower battery plant near Brest, on the People’s Reporter channel.