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Investigative Committee drops criminal case against journalist Petrushenka

The Investigative Committee has dropped a criminal case against journalist Mikalay Petrushenka.

As Mr. Petrushenka told BelaPAN, investigator S. Sakharava has notified him that the case has been closed "in connection with the absence of elements of a crime" in his actions.

The case against Mr. Petrushenka stemmed from an article titled, "Pedophile received awards for best children's playgrounds," which was posted on the Internet this past August.

According to the Orsha city office of the Investigative Committee, the article suggested that Syarhey Zhaldybayew, deputy head of the Orsha City Executive Committee, had covered up a child porn ring run by local businessman Yury Dudkin, which was described by investigators as an affront to a government official.

Mr. Petrushenka told BelaPAN on Monday that he was "satisfied in general" with the Investigative Committee's decision. "But I regret that the authorities have not brought the case to trial, which I could use to investigate the reasons why pedophilia is flourishing and goes unpunished in Orsha, where the main protagonist of my articles is now standing trial on child sex abuse charges behind closed doors," he said.

Mr. Petrushenka, a member of the "Spravedlivy Mir" Belarusian Party of the Left, ran in September's elections for the House of Representatives in Orsha, Vitsyebsk region, but failed to get elected.