BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

19/07/2007

Belarusian KGB Officers Reportedly Assault Government Official

The Belarusian independent news site Zautra (http://www.zautra.by) on July 17 reported that the Prosecutor-General's Office has launched an investigation into an assault on State Monitoring Committee Chairman Zyanon Lomats. According to Zautra, Lomats was beaten in the eastern city of Mahilyou on July 12 by eight men who claimed to be officers of the Interior Ministry. They were subsequently arrested by city police. Seven attackers reportedly turned out to be State Security Committee (KGB) officers, and one was an officer of the Security Council of Belarus. Zautra writes that the assault on Lomats was a provocation staged by the KGB in order to compromise Interior Minister Uladzimir Navumau. The news site also suggests that the assault was the reason behind President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's dismissal of KGB chief Stsyapan Sukharenka on July 17 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," July 18, 2007). JM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2007/07/3-cee/cee-190707.asp