Chief Investigator of Minsk Region Dismissed. He Gained Significant Notoriety in 2020
Alexander Lukashenka signed a decree relieving Siarhei Udovikau from the post of head of the Investigative Committee department for Minsk region.
Siarhei Udovikau was dismissed from service in the Investigative Committee with the right to wear the established uniform and insignia. This was done "by agreement of the parties" — a rather unusual phrasing when it comes to the resignations of high-ranking security officials.
Before becoming head of the Investigative Committee department for Minsk region in April 2024, Siarhei Udovikau headed a similar department in Homiel region.
It was during his leadership of the structure that an investigation into the death on August 11, 2020, during post-election protests, of Homiel resident Aliaksandr Vikhor was conducted.
The initiation of a criminal case regarding Vikhor's death was then denied. Siarhei Udovikau then stated that the protester's death allegedly had no criminal character. According to him, law enforcement officers applied physical force "justifiably," and the cause of death was a sudden exacerbation of a cardiovascular system disease. Fractures of the ribs and sternum, Udovikau claimed, allegedly resulted from resuscitation measures.
Recall that 25-year-old Aliaksandr Vikhor was detained on the evening of August 9 on Sovetskaya Street in Homiel; according to his relatives, he was on his way to his girlfriend. The family searched for their son for three days: they called and visited the police department, and stood guard outside the pre-trial detention center (SIZO) and temporary detention facility (ICU) until night. And only when relatives came to the police on August 12 to write a missing person report, did it become known: Sasha (Aliaksandr) had not been alive since August 11.
Comments