Aleh Vouchak: Lukashenka fears coup

The arrest of Kanaplou is a message to all government officials.

Aleh Vouchak, the head of the Legal Assistance for Citizens and a former prosecution investigator, spoke to charter97.org about the arrest of the former and current vice presidents of the National Olympic Committee Aliakseyenka and Kanaplou.

“I have two versions. The first one is that it was caused by the state funds in handball. It's possible that some checks revealed deficiencies. But I incline to the second version. It was a signal to government officials ahead of the 2015 presidential 'election'. Russia may join the game and propose an influential official. It's most likely that Kanaplou was detained to fear and warn government officials against preparations for the 'election'. Kanaplou was respected by MPs when he was the chairman of the 'parliament'. It's possible that it was psychological pressure and a check of absence of presidential aspirations at the 2015 election. It's clear that he will remain Lukashenka's friend, but his power remains power,” the lawyer said.

The human rights defender added he learnt from a source in the law-enforcement bodies about a scandal over the building of the National Olympic Committee and a hotel.

“It was built on Winners Avenue and cost 380 million dollars. It's a high price. Even President Hotel near Karl Marx Street cost 50-60 million. Some checks of business activity may be carried out, but I think it was done to scare high-ranking officials and warn them against any thoughts of a coup,” Aleh Vouchak said.

The former prosecution investigator finds it strange that Kanaplou was detained without a case.

“One can be arrested or detained in connection with a particular case. No one can't be thrown into a pretrial detention facility without a reason. If he was detained, it means he is a suspect in a case. They may bring charges against them or close the case,” the lawyer said.

We remind that the KGB carried out an inquiry into the case of Henadz Aliakseyenka, a member of the organising committee for the Ice Hockey World Championship, and Uladizmir Kanaplou, the head of the national handball federation. Both were detained three days ago and released yesterday.