Zinaida Hanchar: ‘Change of investigators of the case of disappearance of my husband gives no results, as no concrete work is done’
Zinaida Hanchar, wife of the kidnapped vice-speaker of the Supreme Soviet of the 13th Convocation Viktar Hanchar, has received a letter from Minsk city prosecutor’s office with the information that the investigation of the case was extended to 24 March 2009 and will be lead by a new investigator – Yu.Varauka. Of course, Mrs. Hanchar wanted to have a meeting with the news investigator. On 12 January she phoned to him with such a proposal. The investigator answered that there were no reasons for a meeting. He said that in the case she wanted to meet with him, she needed to submit an official petition with grounding of the reasons and then the prosecutor’s office would decided whether there was any need for the meeting.
‘I was very surprised that the investigator has been changed again. Yury Varauka has been appointed the new investigator. He is already the fourth investigator during the ten years of the investigation and I don’t know how many letters with information about prolongation of the investigation term I have already received,’ tells Zinaida Hanchar. ‘Every time I am surprised at finding the addition: ‘You will be additionally informed about the results of the investigation’. In fact, nothing happens. I am always trying to have talks with officers of the prosecutor’s office. In particular, Varauka’s ancestor Kukharonak did not meet with me either, though I have many times addressed him with the requests to give at least some preliminary information about the results of the investigation, the more that as a victim I have the right to be familiarized with interim rulings according to which the investigation is prolonged, so that I would at least know who was interrogated on this case. Then I can ask the investigation to interrogate some other persons if I have any doubts or additional information. Nevertheless, Kukharonak refused to meet with me.
The relatives of Viktar Hanchar don’t believe that change of investigators can bring any results.
‘I see that the change of investigators gives no results. All of them are young people. Naturally, I start to doubt whether they are able to disclose this crime.
It also seems to me that the officers have not familiarized with the case. I mean the prosecutor general Piatro Miklashevich. It can be witnessed by his statements at the press-conference of 16 January, where the question about the missing people was asked. He answered that the investigative organs still had no information that witnessed the facts of kidnapping. Then there appears the question whether he familiarized with the case, because earlier it had been evidently proved that the people went missing without notice and stains of their blood were found… And now he allows such statements! Of course, six months later Ryhor Vasilevich corrected the words of the former prosecutor general and said that this question remained one of the most important and the investigation continued. However, from the runarounds I am receiving I see that no concrete measures are taken. More over, I am indignant at the fact that they don’t even consider it necessary to familiarize the relatives with any results of the investigation. For the ten years passed we haven’t had the opportunity to receive any information. The only exception is Chumachenka’s ruling that again proved the relation of high-rank state officials to the kidnap.
Bear in mind that on 16 September 1999 the former vice-prime-minister Viktar Hanchar and his friend, businessman Anatol Krasouski, were kidnapped by unidentified persons. The investigators of the prosecutor’s office found the samples of blood at the locus delicti. The forensic experts concluded that it was Viktar Hanchar’s blood. The investigation of this criminal case has been suspended many times despite the statements of former state officials about the relation of certain persons close to Alexander Lukashenka to the kidnap of oppositional politicians.
