English

Investigative Committee denies that general manager of Hotel Planeta in Minsk faced criminal charges

 

The Investigative Committee of Belarus had not instituted and did not plan to institute any criminal proceedings against the general manager of Hotel Planeta who committed suicide on July 24, Yuliya Hancharova, spokesperson for the Committee, told BelaPAN on Friday.

Valery Ahirenka jumped from the balcony of his eighth-floor apartment on Sadovaya Street in Minsk at about 10:20 a.m.

Since the 60-year-old man threw himself from the balcony after a group of police officers arrived at the scene, media outlets have speculated that he killed himself in the face of arrest.

That morning neighbors called the police twice, reporting that a man was sitting on a balcony railing with his legs outside the balcony, Ms. Hancharova said.

According to her, when police officers arrived for the first time, they saw no man on the balcony. They saw him after they arrived again, but when they were going upstairs, the man threw himself from the balcony.

Hotel Planeta, one of the largest hotels in Minsk, is controlled by the Presidential Administration’s property management department. // BelaPAN