(Suspicious Circumstances of Oleg Bebenin´s Death)
Oleg Bebenin was one of the founders and leaders of Charter97.org website.
The body of Oleg Bebenin was found on September 3rd, 2010 at 5.30 p.m. in his summer cottage not far from Minsk. It has turned out that during the initial inspection of the body a constriction mark was found on the neck of Bebenin, which can be a sign of both a suicide and of a violent death by suffocation or strangulation.
Oleg Bebenin was born in 1974. He graduated from the Belarusian State University, department of journalism. In 1990s he occupied the position of the Deputy Chief Editor of "Imya" (Name), an independent Belarusian newspaper. Since 1998 he was the Founder and the Head of charter97.org website. Oleg Bebenin had a wife and two sons.
A Russian TV channel "Vesti" believes that investigators have made a statement about Oleg Bebenin´s suicide too quickly.
As is reported in "Vesti Nedeli" programme on Sunday, on September 3 in the evening an oppositional journalist Oleg Bebenin was found dead in his summer house in the outskirts of Minsk. He was an audacious critic of Lukashenko and his regime and an active participant of "Charter´97". He was just 36.
It was very quickly stated by investigation agencies that it had been a suicide. The journalist reportedly hanged himself. However neither his family nor acquaintances believe this version and speak about a murder. Oleg Bebenin had vast plans, and he had not left a suicide note. Besides, the journalist was conducting investigation of activities of the so-called "death squadrons" and mysterious disappearances of Belarusian politicians. Meanwhile, the date of the presidential election is to be announced in Belarus soon.
Andrey Sannikov, the leader of "European Belarus" and possible opposition presidential candidate states that the death of the Founder and the Leader of Charter97.org website raises many doubts:
"On request of the family we have withheld information before the results of medico-legal investigation. I visited the site of the tragedy and I must say that I do not believe in suicide of Oleg Bebenin. Many things rise serious doubts. A note has not been found, the latest SMS received by his friends show he planned to go to the cinema on Thursday evening. A week ago Oleg and his family returned from a holiday in Greece. It is strange that the Interior Affairs Ministry is already disseminating the story about his suicide, without waiting for the results of the medico-legal investigation."
"We had extensive plans, we met every day. Oleg is my friend; he is the main member of my team, a brilliant journalist and a very reliable person. I offer my sincere condolences to his wife, parents and all his relatives" - Andrey Sannikov said.
Dmitriy Bondarenko, Charter´97 Coordinator, has commented on the official results of examination of the circumstances surrounding the death of Oleg Bebenin:
"I would like to say that Oleg was not simply a journalist. In a possible Belarusian presidential campaign he was to become one of the leaders of the headquarters of the oppositional candidate for presidency Andrey Sannikov. And all of a sudden the person commits suicide. There is no motive for such behaviour. There is no suicide note, there are no problems at work, he has a dearly loved wife, sons, parents, a brother. The man collects his friends for a premiere screening of a film. The SMS which is known to be the last sent by him was about his coming to "October" cinema at 8 p.m. And then again, all of a sudden the person disappears for about 24 hours, not answering phone calls.
There is a wide gap between the time of death indicated by experts, and it is recorded in the documents. Policemen and workers of prosecutor´s office, including a forensic expert, who arrived to the summer house yesterday, documented that the death occurred around 2 p.m. on September 3. In the certificate of death issued to the family the date of death was the 2nd of September. That means, the gap is more than 15 hours.
Oleg cherished his little son. He was found in a noose made of a rope from a child´s hammock. Such thing is simply impossible. People, who saw Oleg on the day before, said that he was cheerful and energetic, and planned to go to the cinema. He said to his family that he planned some meeting during afternoon on the 2nd of September. We are still trying to find out whom he was to meet and whether they met.
As for the results of the expert examination: in fact, the results of the biochemical analysis of tissues, body organs and humors are to become known only by Wednesday (September 8, 2010). There are lots of other circumstances which make us doubt that Oleg departed out of this world of his own free will," Dmitriy Bondarenko said.
A British Human Rights Organization "Index on Censorship" has raised concerns over the death of one of the leading journalists of Belarus.
As one of the leading lights of Human Rights Organization Charter97, Bebenin had been harassed by the authorities on numerous occasions. In April 1997 he was abducted, reportedly by the KGB, and in September 1999, he was nearly beaten to death by fascist thugs with links to the belarussian KGB. Bebenin ran the charter97.org website, which is the leading source of information on the activities of the Belarussian dictatorship in the country. It comes just 2 months after the implementation of Decree No. 60 - a draconian law that strictly regulates the use of the internet in Belarus.
Mike Harris, the Public Affairs Manager of Index on Censorship, who is in Belarus now said:
"People in Minsk are very nervous, especially those close to Oleg. No suicide note was found, and Oleg just hours before his death had made phone calls to arrange a trip to the cinema with close friends. In recent months he had become increasingly concerned over the safety of fellow human rights activists and feared a repeat of the period 97-99 where he was nearly killed, and scores of dissidents disappeared in suspicious circumstances.
The Presidential election must take place before February next year. So called "president" Lukashenko is tightening the screw on human rights organizations, with arrests and mock executions of youth activists. This "suicide" has sent shock waves through civic society across Belarus," added the British human rights activist.
The Russian media is reporting that the death is likely to have been under the orders of the security services.
In the last year, Charter97 has faced continual intimidation from the authorities. On 6 December 2009, Eugene Afnagel, a youth leader, was kidnapped on the streets of Minsk and taken to the countryside to face a mock execution. Afnagel was told to stop asking questions of the authorities. During summer time of 2010 six youth leaders were subject to kidnappings and mock executions.
On 16 of March, 2010 computers were confiscated in the news office of charter97.org website as part of an indictment in a criminal libel case brought by a former KGB officer.
Recently attention of the KGB and the Interior Affairs Ministry of Belarus was locked on Charter´97. In spring a search was held in its news office and in the apartment of a journalist Iryna Khalip and Andrey Sannikov. Editor-in-chief Natalya Radzina was hit on the face during the search, she told then. The reason for the search was materials of the website about illegal rare animals hunting carried out by high-ranking workers of the Interior Affairs Ministry.
European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek stated on learning of the death of Belarusian journalist - Oleg Bebenin:
"I am deeply moved by this sad event in Belarus. Oleg was working to create a more democratic Belarus through his work with Charter97. I call on the Belarusian authorities to carry out a full and transparent investigation into the death of Oleg Bebenin which will clarify all the circumstances around his tragic death. Our thoughts are with Mr Bebenin's friends and family."
On September, 6 the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) sent a letter to the names of Aleksandr Lukashenko, Head of Interior Ministry Anatoliy Kulyashov and General Prosecutor Grigoriy Vasilevich.
"We are extremely concerned about the atmosphere of fear and intimidation of journalists in Belarus and call upon the authorities of the country to do everything possible to ensure a profound investigation of the case of the death of a journalist Oleg Bebenin and to stop the practice of impunity for those who attacks journalists", - the letters signed by Aidan White, the General Secretary of the European Federation of journalists, say.
Besides suspicious circumstances of Oleg Bebenin´s death, EFJ mentions in its letters the threats, which Chef Editor of "Narodnaya Volya" Svetlana Kalinkina received. "We pay your special attention to the fact, that previous loud cases concerning deaths of Belarusian journalists, did not give any clear answers about their fate. Alongside with it are the cases of Dmitriy Zavadskiy, who disappeared on his way to the Minsk airport on July, 7, 2000, and Veranika Cherkasava, who was brutally slain in her apartment on October, 20, 2004", - EFJ letters say.
In the meanwhile the problem of involuntary disappearance is topical for Belarus. In the year of 1999 two famous oppositionists disappeared in the country without leaving a track- former Minister of Internal Affairs Yury Zaharenko and Vice Speaker of the Supreme Council of XIII Convocation Viktor Ganchar, and also a big businessman Anatoliy Krasouskiy. In summer of 2000 year Dmitriy Zavadskiy an operator of Russian TV channel ORT disappeared without leaving a track.
High officials of Belarus are suspected to be involved into abductions and murders.
