Mahilou judge arrested at work

KGB officers detained the chair of a law firm and a deputy chair of Mahilou's Kastrychnitski district court over bribery.

Charter97.org has learnt it from a source.

“KGB officers yesterday detained chair of a law firm Homan at the moment of giving a bribe. The bribe of $2700 was for Magomet Umarov, a deputy chair of the Kastrychnitski district court of Mahilou,” the source said.

The judge was arrested too. Charter97.org tried to receive details from the judge's office. Nobody was answering for a long time, but finally a woman picked up the phone and said Magomet Umarov didn't work. Asked whether he was on holidays and when he would appear at work, she repeated in a confused tone that he didn't work.

Magomet Umarov was later reported to have been detained in his office. He left the building in handcuffs.

Arrests of high-ranking officials became a routine in Belarus. The most high-profile cases involve chairman of the Homel city executive committee Viktar Pilipets, deputy interior minister Yauheny Paludzen, head of the internal security department at the Interior Ministry Lt.Col. Uladzimir Krotau. Members of parliament and local councils are often caught in corruption-related crimes.