Two Deputy Prosecutors In Minsk Detained On Drugs-Related Charges

MINSK — Two deputy prosecutors in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, have been arrested on drugs-related charges.

The Prosecutor-General’s Office said on April 6 that deputy prosecutors for Minsk’s Lenin and Soviet districts had been charged with illegal drugs trafficking without the aim to sell.

The two officials, whose identities were not disclosed, were fired from their posts after the arrests, the Prosecutor-General’s Office said.

Last August, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka publicly criticized and reprimanded law enforcement for what he called the “failure” to prevent and investigate drug trafficking in the country.

In December 2016, two former KGB officers and a former police officer were among 17 people convicted and sentenced to lengthy prison terms in a high-profile case against what the authorities called one of the biggest drug rings in Belarus.

With reporting by BelTA and Nasha Niva