Aleh Byabenin

Who was Aleh Byabenin?

Aleh Byabenin was a Belarusian journalist. He was the founder and director of the Minsk-based pro-democracy news website Charter 97. He was also the campaign press secretary and friend of Andrei Sannikov.

Byabenin was a leading journalist in Belarus. During the 2010 presidential elections in Belarus, Byabenin was a key member of leading opposition candidate Andrei Sannikov's campaign. He was also director and co-founder of Charter97, which was one of the few outlets for information on "opposition" candidates during the election.

On September 3, 2010, late on Friday afternoon, Byabenin was found hanged in the stairway at his summer house on the outskirts of Minsk. Belarusian authorities claimed that Byabenin had committed suicide. Sannikov expressed suspicion of the "suicide". Byabenin left no suicide note and none knew any health problems. His friend Dmitry Bandarenko, who saw the body, told that Byabenin's right ankle was badly wrenched and that he had unexplained bruises on his left hand, chest, and back. Sannikov also stated he had no confidence in the official investigation: "It's impossible in this situation of dictatorship.