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KGB chief confirms that another man has been arrested on suspicion of spying

 

Valery Vakulchyk, head of the Committee for State Security (KGB), confirmed to reporters on Wednesday that another man had been arrested in Minsk on suspicion of espionage.

“However, a spy doesn’t mean that he is a citizen of Belarus,” Mr. Vakulchyk said.

The KGB cannot always release all information to the public because full disclosure in some cases would make its work less efficient, he said. This information may affect the interests of different countries and diplomatic services, he said.

Mr. Vakulchyk revealed on May 30 that a man suspected of spying for a foreign intelligence agency had been arrested by KGB officers in Minsk the previous week. He said that he could not answer any questions about the suspect because an investigation was under way. He only said that the man had been arrested in the act of receiving sensitive information.

Young opposition activist Andrey Haydukow currently stands trial in the Vitsyebsk Regional Court on a charge of high treason.

The 23-year-old Haydukow was arrested in Vitsyebsk on November 8, 2012, taken to the KGB jail in Minsk and charged with spying.

KGB spokesman Alyaksandr Antanovich announced on November 13 that Mr. Haydukow had "gathered and passed political and economic information on the instructions of a foreign intelligence agency," and that he had been caught in the act of making a dead drop.

The trial of Mr. Haydukow is taking place behind closed doors, with authorities refusing to reveal anything about his case.

Mr. Haydukow says in a letter that he is suspected of offering to gather sensitive information about Belarus for the US Central Intelligence Agency. // BelaPAN