Customs officer and regional ethnographer Ales Yurkoits to stand trial in Minsk

Customs officer and regional ethnographer Ales Yurkoits will stand trial in Minsk on Friday, November 18. He was detained together with other Ashmyany customs officers more than 18 months ago. Yurkoits has been jailed since then. Ales Yurkoits’ case will be considered by Minsk Partizan District Court, Radio Liberty reports. It will be an open hearing.

Yurkoits is a well-known organizer of Belarusian cultural events in Ashmyany District. He used to be called ‘a Belarusian-speaking customs officer’. The big groups of customs officers were detained in spring 2015. They were accused of bribery and power abuse. KGB was in charge of the investigation. 60 people were involved in the case, KGB chief Valery Vakulchyk announced at the end of 2015.