Who Is To Be Appointed "Fall Guy" For Tragedy In Pechy?

The Ministry of Defense is obliged not only to get into Aliaksandr Korzhych’s death thoroughly, but the reasons that had led to it in general.

"The army department should show the criminals in uniform first, so that the tragedy not to happen again," – lawyer of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee Harry Pahaniaila said to Radio Racyja, commenting on the death of Pinsk conscript Aliaksandr Korzhych in Pechy.

– The resonance of this case is quite large, so the guilty will be found. Another thing is that according to tradition they might punish only "scapegoats" from the lowest level. I believe that the higher army commanders will not be punished properly, although they are also responsible for not having such tragedies in their subordinate establishment. Therefore, the public demands from the Ministry of Defense not only to get into Aliaksandr Korzhych’s death thoroughly, but the reasons that had led to it in general.

– This is not the first tragedy in military units...

- Everything is not without its reason. If you once closed your eyes to the seriousness of the situation, then again and again, such cases will be repeated. By the way, this situation is not only in the army.

– In your opinion, how will the Ministry of Defense respond to this resonant tragedy now?

– There will be internal investigation, of course, but I do not think that it will go beyond this department. They might do it quietly, without informing the public that much. Although, here the army must show the criminals in the uniform first, for this tragedy never to happen again.

We remind that 21-year-old Pinsk resident Aliaksandr Korzhych, recruited less than six months ago, on October 3, was found hung in the basement of one of the buildings in the military unit near Barysau. On October 5, the investigation called it a suicide. The deceased’s parents and friends do not believe in it categorically.

On October 10, the investigation reported the initiation of a criminal investigation under Part 3 of Art. 443 of the Criminal Code (violation of the statutory rules of relations between persons on whom the status of a serviceman applies, in the absence of subordination relations, which entailed grave consequences).

By the way, this is the second tragedy in Pechy this year – on March 31, another guy, Artsiom Bastsiuk, was found in the loop. The Investigative Committee terminated the criminal case initiated after Bastsiuk’s death.