Ex-Opponent of Lukashenko Faces Official Accusation

The former Belarus presidential candidate Viktor Babariko, who was also the CEO of Belgazprombank, is now officially accused of corruption and money laundering. This information was released by the Belorussian Committee of State Security or KGB (the country preserved the Soviet name of the agency).

According to the KGB, Viktor Babariko was a leader of a criminal organization and is accused of large-scale bribery as well as money laundering that he received by criminal means.

Moreover, deputies of Babariko Sergey Shaban, Alexander Ilyasyuk, Dmitry Kuzmich, Aleksey Zhadoyko and Sergey Dobrolet were also charged of bribery, the KGB said.

The KGB has opened another case against the founder of Activelizing company, Viktor Kobyak, who is accused of giving a bribe.

«All accused persons except Viktor Babariko pled guilty. They and their advocates have already received the criminal case to examine,» the KGB reported.

On July 1, Viktor Babariko’s election team collected 160,000 signatures to register Babariko as a presidential candidate while only 100,000 signatures were required as the minimal number. However, Belarussian election authorities declined to register his candidacy. Therefore, the election teams of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, Valeriy Tsepkalo and Viktor Babariko decided to step against the current president Alexander Lukashenko as a united front.

The ex-CEO of Belgazprombank Viktor Babariko said that the bank was an object of raider attack by the Belarussian state. According to him, all arrests of his deputies were aimed to hurt him personally. These actions broke various domestic and international laws, he stated.

The election of the president in Belarus was held on August 9. Alexander Lukashenko was officially named president-elect. However, many people have protested against this decision despite a brutal response from the police.