31 May 2002
Food company director in Brest faces power abuse charge

 Vasily Slesarchuk, director of the state-run food company Brestplodovoshchprom in Brest in southwestern Belarus, has been charged by the Committee for State Security (KGB) with "abuse of power or position for personal gain or interest."
The director is accused of selling a company-owned Volkswagen Passat to a private individual in December 2001 at a price below actual cost (at about $8,800). Brestplodovoshchprom bought the car for an equivalent of $21,000 in May 2000.
Mr. Slesarchuk has not been dismissed from his position. The Brest city government merely suspended him on May 27. He spent several days in a KGB jail and was then released after signing a pledge not to flee from justice. However, the charge he faces carries up to four years in prison under Belarus' Criminal Code.