MINSK, 13 December (BelTA) – The Office of the Prosecutor General of Belarus has opened a criminal case against Pavel Latushko, BelTA has learned.
Pavel Latushko is accused of committing a crime against interests of the service according to part 3, article 426 of the Criminal Code of Belarus.
According to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Belarus, Pavel Latushko occupied an executive position as the culture minister of Belarus in 2012. He knew beyond all doubt that there were no legal reasons to finance a number of manifestly unpopular movie production projects at the expense of the state budget. Acting out of selfish interests or other personal interests he authorized subordinates to include these projects into the 2012-2013 movie production schedule. Consequently the Cinematography Department of the Belarusian Culture Ministry signed contracts with the movie producers and illegally financed the production of these films.
Pavel Latushko's illegal actions caused substantial damage to state interests and public interests and resulted in grave consequences in the form of excessive damage to the state, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Belarus added.
The unlawful actions are classified as abuse of power.
The central office of Belarus' Investigative Committee has been tasked with investigating the criminal case.
The Office of the Prosecutor General of Belarus reminded that criminal liability is unavoidable. “Every unlawful action will be given a proper legal evaluation. All the parties guilty of crimes will be found out and subjected to a fair punishment in line with the criminal legislation,” the source said.
