The Supreme Court of Belarus has announced a verdict against the deceased war criminal 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 report dated October 30, Buglai was found guilty of genocide.
“The court determined that Buglai headed the so-called ‘Buglai volunteer combat battalion’ until May 1944 and, as a Belarusian citizen, systematically destroyed his compatriots,” the court’s website stated. “More than 33 episodes of Buglai’s criminal activity have been established, including the intentional deprivation of life of at least 174 people.”
At least 27 children and elderly individuals were among those killed by Buglai, along with the destruction of villages in the territories of Gomel, Mogilev, and Minsk regions.
The court noted that because the crime under Article 127 (“Genocide”) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus was committed by a defendant who died in 1990, Buglai was convicted without imposing punishment.
Additionally, as reported by Pavel Trubchik, Deputy Director for Scientific Work at the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus on July 24, updated data has confirmed larger-scale losses of Belarusian citizens during World War II compared to previous estimates. The scale of genocide against the Belarusian population was enormous, with over 578 sites of forced detention identified, up from an estimated 480 such facilities prior to this investigation.
