Verdict in case of Arkhipau and Kanaplou to be delivered today

The verdict will be delivered by the Military Board of the Supreme Court.

Deputy Prosecutor General Aliaksandr Arkhipau is charged with abuse of power (part 3 of article 424 of the Criminal Code) and taking a bribe (part 3 of article 430 of the Criminal Code). The case also involves Uladzimir Kanaplou, Lukashenka's childhood friend, head of the Handball Federation and former chairman of the “house of representative”. He is charged with failure to report a crime (part 1 of article 406).

Both were not held in custody until the trial behidn closed doors, Interfax reports.

In November 2013, a criminal case over part 3 of article 424 (abuse of power) was opened against Arkhipau, a former deputy prosecutor general. On November 4, 2013, the prosecutor general signed an order to dismiss him from prosecution agencies for committing offences that discredit the status of a prosecutor and are incompatible with the work in prosecution agencies.

Lukashenka later met with prosecutor general Aliaksandr Kaniuk and instructed to control the situation of the dismissed deputy prosecutor general.

“It begins to worry me after we had to decline the services of deputy prosecutor general Arkhipau. Maybe it's true that certain persons do something wrong in law-enforcement bodies. It is unacceptable that we have to deny trust to the deputy prosecutor general and have to fire him. It is not normal,” Lukashenka said.

“His friends may have involved him into the fraud. A man was killed, a driver was drunk. It doesn't matter what relations they had, but a human being was killed. Imagine how his family reacts to this,” he said.

“They used their power to hush up the case,” Lukashenka continued. “What will people and family think? They will think there's no authority in the county. Where is justice? So, control what measures are being taken,” he ordered.