MINSK, 12 March (BelTA) – Belarus’ Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Sergei Maslyak is being held in pretrial detention on bribery charges,Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at a meeting to discuss measures to eliminate unjustified and unscrupulous intermediation on 12 March, BelTA has learned.
The head of state gave an example of how unjustified intermediation ultimately leads to corrupt practices.
“He [Sergei Maslyak] was caught red-handed. I warned you that we don’t just arrest random people on the street. Shved [Supreme Court Chairman and former Prosecutor General Andrei Shved] and now Dmitry Gora [current Prosecutor General] are keeping strict control over this. If necessary, they will report,” the president said.
“No one is detained without cause. If you are guilty, you must be held accountable for it,” the president emphasized.
He noted that Belarusian law enforcement agencies have sufficient tools to uncover such offenses. “If you catch someone taking a bribe in the act, that’s it, the conversation is over. And that is exactly what happened,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
The president stressed once again that it is impossible to hide such cases, even if it may seem so at first. “Do not take what does not belong to you, do not touch it. Corruption is not just rust, as I used to say. It is a war. At its core lies this horrific corruption,” the Belarusian leader stated.
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