General Office of Public Prosecutor suggests conducting more investigation

Representatives of the General Office of the Public Prosecutor, Ministry of Internal Affaires, SCC and KGB described the growth of corruption in our country at a press conference on February 9. They claimed that anti-corruption commission did not work in ministries and suggested preserving the practice of “investigation experiments”.
Furthermore, the head of the department for prevention of corruption and organized crime of the General Office of the Public Prosecutor Ihar Hreiba said that investigators had to conduct more experiments of the kind.

Ihar Hreiba: “Operational departments should conduct such investigation experiments more actively.  It also concerns experiments infringing on citizens’ constitutional rights. It is necessary to reveal unclean hands among officials”.



The head of the department for investigation of corruption cases of the General Office of the Public Prosecutor Pyotr Urublyouski supported his colleague and said that it was necessary to control the people conducting such experiments better.
Pyotr Urublyouski: “In my opinion, everything depends on the executors applying the norms in practice. It depends on certain officials in the law machinery. There should be a system of control and responsibility for those who conduct investigation experiments”.



Let us remind you that the Attorney General Ryhor Vasilevich answered an ERB reporter’s question at a recent press conference and said that they would think what had to be done about such experiments and that they would either be abolished or changed. However, the state of corruption in our country seems to be so grave that there is no need for any sentimentality or observation of citizens’ constitutional rights.
According to Ihar Hreiba, the police registered 3366 corruption crimes in our country last year. It exceeded the number of crimes registered a year before by 631.

Ihar Hreiba: “The majority of the crimes were revealed in the field of trade – 482, industry – 427, state administration – 421, agriculture – 338, construction – 279 and education – 200”.
As a result, 1231 people were subjected to criminal responsibility for corruption. According to the representative of the General Office of the Public Prosecutor, the numbers testify to the fact that anti-corruption commissions do not function in ministries and departments. 780 anti-corruption check-ups that resulted in 98 criminal corruption cases proved it. As a result, 184 people were subjected to administrative and 767 – to criminal responsibility.
Ihar Shatsila, head of the procedural control and investigation methods of the Financial Investigation Department of the State Control Committee, also scared journalists. He said that the Department had conducted 3840 check-ups and all of them had brought results.
Ihar Shatsila: “The budget received 133.5 billion rubles thanks to the actions of the financial investigation department. The net profit totalled 81 billion rubles. Financial investigation departments started 1283 criminal cases last year”.



522 of the cases were sent to court while 89 were closed. The thing is the people accused of the crimes agreed to compensate for the losses to the state. They did it – 12.5 billion rubles.
According to him, there are corrupt practices everywhere – in agriculture, trade, industry and construction. The director of “The United directorate of constructed objects” stole 5.8 billion rubles from the state during the reconstruction of the Opera and Ballet Theatre.
Journalists asked policemen why the number of corrupt people kept increasing in the state every year. The response of the head of the corruption investigation department of the General Office of the Public Prosecutor surprised them. It turned out, that the economic development of our country was to blame for it.

Pyotr Urubleuskі: “It is connected with the economy development dynamics, currency flows and other objective conditions. The investments volume and economic deposits keep increasing in our country. “Dealers” we have to deal with can always be found in the places where there are currency flows”.
He has also asked to tell all those who will be involved in the construction of the first Belarusian NPP that they will be thoroughly watched.

Photo by: Zmitser Lukashuk