(WAN/IFEX) – In a 7 February 2005 letter to President Alexander Lukashenko, WAN and the World Editors Forum (WEF) expressed serious concern at the way the investigation into the murder of journalist Veronika Cherkasova is being conducted. Cherkasova, a journalist with the newspaper “Solidarnost”, was found stabbed to death in her apartment in Minsk on […]
(WAN/IFEX) – In a 7 February 2005 letter to President Alexander Lukashenko, WAN and the World Editors Forum (WEF) expressed serious concern at the way the investigation into the murder of journalist Veronika Cherkasova is being conducted.
Cherkasova, a journalist with the newspaper “Solidarnost”, was found stabbed to death in her apartment in Minsk on 20 October 2004. The authorities have reportedly identified Cherkasova’s 15-year-old son, Anton Filimonov, and her chronically ill stepfather, Vladimir Meleshko, as their main suspects in the murder. Even though police have no evidence to indict the pair, prosecutors have refused to lift their status as suspects and both have had to endure months of harassment and intense and intimidating interrogation. As a result, the son has been hospitalised with severe depression. According to reports, Cherkasova’s family now fears that evidence may be falsified to implicate family members in her murder.
Meanwhile, an independent investigation has concluded that Cherkasova’s murder was a professional assassination. Other recent evidence suggests that shortly before her murder, Cherkasova was investigating the alleged sale of arms by Belarus to Iraq.
