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Journalist Byabenin believed to have killed himself

Prominent journalist Aleh Byabenin, the founder of the opposition news site charter97.org. whose dead body was discovered in his summer home near Minsk on Friday evening, is believed to have hanged himself.

“Byabenin’s body was found hanging in a self-made noose from the stairways leading to the second floor in his dacha located in the Dzyarzhynsk district, with a stool knocked over on the floor,” Alyaksandr Danilchanka, head of the press office of the Minsk regional police department, told BelaPAN.

He is believed to have committed suicide and there are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances, Mr. Danilchanka said.

According to him, Dzyarzhynsk police investigators who examined the house discovered two empty bottles of Belaruski Balsam, a strong herbal liqueur. No marks of violence were found on the body.

“Neighbors said they had not seen any people other than Byabenin in the house on that day,” Mr. Danilchanka said.

“The investigators did not find any suicide note,” he added, noting that the exact cause of the death would be established by a post-mortem scheduled for Saturday.

According to him, Mr. Byabenin left his Minsk home for the dacha on September 2 and then stopped to answer his mobile phone. His wife asked her sister to find out what had happened to him. It was her sister who found the dead body.

Mr. Byabenin’s associates decline to speculate about possible motives, explaining that the deceased’s relatives do not want them to do so. They have disputed authorities’ theory that the journalist killed himself.

He had no reason to commit suicide, Andrey Sannikaw, an opposition presidential hopeful, told BelaPAN. “I talked to him on Thursday, September 2, and we agreed to meet on Friday. There were no signs in either his behavior or words that would indicate that he had suicidal thoughts. Quite the contrary, he was full of enthusiasm as always.”

“Aleh wasn’t a candidate for head of my campaign team, but he was meant to be a key member of the team,” said Mr. Sannikaw, a former deputy foreign minister.

“There are a lot of things that make us doubt that Aleh died of his own free will,” said Charter’97 coordinator Dzmitry Bandarenka. “No suicide note was found. There were no motives for suicidal behavior. He had a good job. He had a beloved wife, sons, parents and a brother. He invited friends to watch a movie. His last SMS message is known to have said that he would come to the Kastrychnik movie theater at 8 p.m. [on September 2]. And suddenly, he disappears and doesn’t answer phone calls.”

“He had doted on his little son and he was found hanging by a rope from a children’s hammock. It was something that just could not happen,” Mr. Bandarenka said. “People who saw him the previous day say that he was in a cheerful and jolly mood and was going to go to the movies. He told his relatives that he would have a meeting with someone on the afternoon of September 2. We are trying to find out whom he planned to meet and whether the meeting occurred.”

European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek has called on the Belarusian authorities to conduct a “full and transparent” investigation into the death of journalist. “I am deeply moved by this sad event in Belarus,” the European Parliament president says in his statement issued on Sunday, noting that Mr. Byabenin “was working to create a more democratic Belarus through his work with Charter’97.”

“I call on the Belarusian authorities to carry out a full and transparent investigation into the death of Aleh Byabenin, which will clarify all the circumstances around his tragic death,” Mr. Buzek says. “Our thoughts are with Mr. Byabenin's friends and family."

Born in 1974, Mr. Byabenin graduated from the journalism department of Belarusian State University.

In the 1990s, he was deputy editor in chief of the independent newspaper Imya. In 1998, he founded charter97.org and became its director.

Mr. Byabenin is survived by his wife and two sons.