Belarus’ Prosecutor General: Interpol became largely politicised organisation

Minsk has hosted today a meeting of the joint board of the prosecutor general’s offices of Belarus and Russia

At the beginning of the meeting, Belarus’ Prosecutor General Andrei Shved noted that the joint board is a unique format that addresses topical issues of prosecutorial supervision, combating crime, strengthening law and order. The problems raised at the meeting serve as the basis for further work, including on the harmonisation of legislation in criminal law and other areas.

Belarus’ Prosecutor General stated that the competent authorities of Western states often refuse to extradite Belarusian criminals, including those who have committed drug offences, serious crimes against people and property, on far-fetched grounds.

According to Mr. Shved, an analysis of the work of the law enforcement agencies of Belarus and Russia in the field of tracing criminals indicates that there are a number of issues that require additional organisational and practical measures at the national and interstate levels.

“The results of inspections in this area show that there are shortcomings in the activities of law enforcement agencies that have had a negative impact on the effectiveness of search work. These include the ineffective conduct of operational-search and other search activities, the untimely application of appropriate preventive measures and other measures of procedural coercion. The facts of red tape, improper interaction of operational staff and investigators, and sometimes even inaction on their part, are not excluded,” the Prosecutor General noted.

At the same time, more than half of those wanted are persons who have committed extremist crimes and evaded military service. Most of them left the country before criminal proceedings were initiated and are outside the Republic of Belarus and the CIS member states.

Mr. Shved noted that the announcement of these persons on the international wanted list is actually blocked by Interpol, “The competent authorities of Western states often refuse to extradite Belarusian criminals, including those who have committed drug offences, serious crimes against people and property, on far-fetched grounds. I know that Russian colleagues also face politically motivated refusals to extradite criminals. Now, on our initiative, the interested state bodies are developing an algorithm for interdepartmental co-operation to ensure the rights of victims in criminal cases to appeal against decisions of Interpol bodies to refuse to declare accused persons wanted internationally or to unreasonably delete information about such persons from the information system.”

Co-operation with Russia’s law enforcement agencies as part of the CIS Treaty on Interstate Search of Persons remains relevant for Belarus. Every year, more than a thousand criminals wanted by Belarus’ internal affairs bodies are found on the territory of Russia. Belarusian law enforcement agencies are also actively assisting their Russian colleagues in this direction.

At the end of his speech, Andrei Shved pointed out that despite the effectiveness of the interstate search and the high level of co-operation between the competent authorities, there are a number of unsettled problems that are caused by the peculiarities of national legislation and shortcomings of legal regulation within the CIS.

“Such problems can be solved, among other things, through the unification of Belarusian and Russian legislation, as well as through the active application of deportation or administrative expulsion mechanisms,” summed up the Prosecutor General.