FM: Belarus negatively assesses Canada’s refusal to extradite former SS soldier to Russia

The refusal of the Canadian government to extradite Yaroslav Hunka (Gunko), a former soldier of the Waffen SS Division Galicia, to Russia is viewed very negatively in Belarus – as stated by Belarusian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Anatoly Glaz

“The Foreign Ministry of Belarus was one of the first to react to the outrageous honouring of this Nazi criminal in the Canadian Parliament. We continue to monitor this situation closely, and we will not drop this issue. We believe that this is not an ordinary and isolated case, but a very serious global issue which should concern the entire respectable international community. At the same time, we do not have any illusions. It is quite obvious that the Canadian government, in its usual manner, will artificially stall for time and come up with some excuses and reasons to cover up for such Nazi criminals. For example, our request to the Canadian authorities to extradite ruthless punisher Vladimir Katryuk, who participated in the massacre of civilians in the Belarusian village of Khatyn, remained unanswered. Trial over him, although in absentia, is taking place in Minsk these days,” noted Anatoly Glaz.

According to him, the case of Yaroslav Hunka will become another indicator for official Ottawa, which calls itself a legal, civilised state, but at the same time has been sheltering for decades hordes of people whose criminal acts have been proven and have no statute of limitations, “Belarus will continue to consistently follow the path of protecting historical truth and justice, including as part of the investigation of a criminal case into the genocide of the Belarusian population during the Great Patriotic War. In the year of celebrating the 80th anniversary of Belarus’ liberation from the Nazi invaders, the topic of justice and the well-deserved punishment of accomplices of fascism, is more relevant for every Belarusian than ever before.”