Report of Chairman of Investigative Committee Ivan Noskevich

Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko heard out a report of Chairman of the Investigative Committee Ivan Noskevich on 7 September.

The head of state asked Ivan Noskevich to update him, first of all, on the crime clearance, with the focus on investigating the criminal cases that hit the headlines and are on the President’s radar now.

“Secondly, (to be honest, it was a blessing in disguise, as they say), political squabbles and issues that emerge during elections and in the post-election period, have revealed a series of bottlenecks, and maybe shortcomings in the work of the power vertical. What do these developments show, as far as the Investigative Committee is concerned? What lessons do we need to learn from this?” Aleksandr Lukashenko asked.

According to Ivan Noskevich, this year the Investigative Committee “is performing its duties in a calm and consistent way”. In his words, in the face of public and political events and the epidemiological situation, the crime rate dropped by about 8% compared to the previous year. “Consequently, the workload on the Investigative Committee reduced,” he added.

The President asked what types of crime are the most alarming.

“The structure of crime has somewhat changed, with more cybercrimes reported. This trend has been in place in recent years. The number of cybercrimes is on the rise, thus the law enforcement has refocused on investigating such crimes using information technology,” Ivan Noskevich said.