Report of Prosecutor General Andrei Shved

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has received a report from Prosecutor General Andrei Shved on 17 July.

At the beginning of the meeting, the head of state briefly listed the key issues he wanted to raise with the prosecutor general. Among them was control over the compliance with the rule of law in the military and law enforcement agencies, approaches to making this work effective. Another topic was the ongoing investigation into the genocide of the Belarusian people. Aleksandr Lukashenko also focused on the role of the Prosecutor General’s Office in overseeing and identifying problems in agriculture and industry.

“I would like to discuss with you these three blocks of issues,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

Establishment of a system of military prosecutors

“This is not the first time that I have raised the issue of control, prosecutorial supervision in the Armed Forces, compliance with laws and so on. What is the state of things today?” the Belarusian leader asked. “A great number of proposals are coming, including proposals to create some system of military prosecutors. I am saying ‘some system’ because we are not planning to return to that Soviet practice. But we should have some elements of it,” the president said.

According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, there are many points of view on this issue. He asked about the rationale behind Andrei Shved’s position. “I know your position, but what are the reasons behind it? Indeed, we do need to strengthen control over compliance with the law among the military. I have already told you that the prosecutor’s office had somewhat moved away from the power bloc some time ago”, the president said.

The head of state noted that it is not only about the army, because uniformed services include many other agencies, like the Emergencies Ministry, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the State Security Committee. “Prosecutors should keep an eye on everything,” the Belarusian leader is sure.

Genocide investigation

“The second point is the genocide. A number of proposals have been made to raise awareness of the genocide of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War in our society, especially among young people. Young people should know what happened. Why? To prevent it from happening again,” the president said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko asked how this work is being done at the moment and what is to be undertaken in the future.

Key economic matters

The third topic of the report was also important, the head of state stressed. “Instructions related to key economic matters have been given to the prosecutor general. As far as agriculture is concerned, the major issues here are livestock loss and problems related to salary payments. Don’t take your eye off the ball,” the president noted.

In the same vein, the prosecution authorities should counter and prevent manifestations of corruption. “This is commonplace, first of all, for the industrial sector. How are things in this regard in Gomel Oblast? There were many complaints some time ago. How is the new governor coping with these issues?” the Belarusian leader asked.