News Article: Homel (Gomel) Medical Institute Vice Rector Confronted with New Charge
"Prosecutors have rewritten charges against 18 officials of the Homel (Gomel) State Medical Institute, most of whom are accused of taking bribes. Some officials have been charged with giving bribes and mediating in bribe deals."
"Among the accused are Yury Bandazhevsky, the former rector of the institute, and former Vice Rector Vladimir Ravkov. An official at the Procurator General's Office told BelaPAN that the charges were reviewed in order to specify some details of the incriminated offenses or add new counts."
"Mr. Ravkov's lawyer, Dmitry Ivanishko, said that his client had been confronted with a new charge -- illegal possession of cold steel. According to the lawyer, investigators claim to have found a knife in his client's Nissan Premiera car several moths ago."
"The lawyer dismissed the accusation as absurd. He said that neither Mr. Ravkov nor his relatives knew the whereabouts of the car since the vice rector's arrest on July 12, 1999."
"Police showed the car to Mr. Ravkov's wife, Natalya, on October 19, 1999 after her urgent requests. Natalya says that the car was damaged. The police ordered the seizure of the car on the same day but have not yet made a list of belongings that were found in it."
"Mr. Ravkov is the only one of the 18 accused in detention. The case is believed by some to have a political background, as Mr. Bandazhevsky used to criticize the government for neglecting Chornobyl (Chernobyl) problems."
"Vasily Nesterenko, director of the Minsk-based, non-state Radiation Safety Institute, Belrad, has accused the Belarusian Ministry of Health of ignoring researchers' conclusions about the danger of small doses of radiation to children's health."
"As Mr. Nesterenko explained to BelaPAN, the ministry has disregarded Belrad's recommendation to include in radiation safety standards the dose limit of 0.3 mSv, above which treatment and preventive measures should be taken to protect children."
"Mr. Nesterenko said that Belarus has an 'archaic and doubtful' catalogue of accumulated radiation doses on the country's territory. According to him, the Ministry of Health proposed new draft catalogues in 1998 and 1999, but Belrad rejected them after it found that doses mentioned there were 3 to 8 times lower than the real ones. The Belrad director pointed out that the ministry had used incorrect methods to assess the doses. Mr. Nesterenko said that the 1998 version of the catalogue listed only 128 of 3,668 villages contaminated as a result of the Chornobyl (Chernobyl) nuclear accident, and the 1999 version only 850."
"In 1999, Belrad rejected new maximum allowed levels of cesium-137 in meat and milk, which were proposed by the ministry. Mr. Nesterenko said that the levels were 2 to 3 times higher than the same standards in Russia."
"The Belrad director said that Yury Bandazhevsky, the former rector of the Gomel State Medical Institute, who is currently under investigation on a bribery charge, conducted research into the effects of radiation doses on children's health, and drew an important conclusion that a cesium-137 dose above 50 Bq per kilogram of a child's weight causes serious pathologies. Mr. Bandazhevsky's research showed a direct effect of radiation doses on children's health, Mr. Nesterenko said."
"Many believe Bandazhevsky's research to be a reason for the criminal charges against him."
"In its research, Belrad uses a human body radiation meter, and the health ministry claims that the institute should obtain a special license for using the equipment. Under Belarusian regulations, a license from the Ministry of Health is necessary for medical research."
"However, Belrad argues that such kind of research can be done under the license that it received from the Ministry on Emergency Situations. Mr. Nesterenko said that he had to appeal to Aleksandr Lukashenko and the international community to prevent the termination of the project. The project's closure would significantly undermine independent experts' efforts to protect Belarusian children's health."
"Belrad was founded by the Belarusian National Academy of Sciences and the Belarusian Peace Fund in October, 1990, with the support of the scientist and human rights defender Andrei Sakharov, Belarusian writer Ales Adamovich, and chess champion Anatoly Karpov. Belrad has 370 stations for measuring the level of radionuclides in food all over Belarus."
"Vladimir Ravkov, the jailed vice rector of Gomel State Medical Institute, has sent a letter to Aleksandr Lukashenko, claiming that his original testimony against himself and his boss, Professor Yury Bandazhevsky, was the result of torture and threats."
"Bribery proceedings against Mr. Ravkov, Rector Bandazhevsky and 15 others were instituted back in July 1999. Mr. Ravkov remains the only one in detention, while the trial is nowhere in view. The case is believed by some to have a political background, as Mr. Bandazhevsky used to criticize the government a lot for neglecting Chornobyl (Chernobyl) problems."
"Mr. Ravkov says in his letter that investigators interrogated him 14-16 hours a day, denied him food and sleep, and threatened to harm his wife and daughter. One time, according to the letter, they 'put some very toxic psychotropic drug in my glass of water,' making him 'completely disoriented.' "
"On the following day, Mr. Ravkov says, doctors diagnosed him with toxic hepatitis, and there are documents to prove it. In addition, he continues, the investigators keep ignoring his grave health even after ECG testing gave evidence of a microfocal heart attack."
"Mr. Ravkov says Procurator General Oleg Bozhelko has dismissed his story as far-fetched and requests Belarus' supreme leader to look into his case."
"The Procurator General's Office has denied the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group in Belarus permission to visit Vladimir Ravkov, the jailed vice rector of the Homel (Gomel) State Medical Institute."
"Bribery proceedings against Mr. Ravkov, Rector Yury Bandazhevsky, and 15 others were instituted in July 1999, but Mr. Ravkov is the only one in detention. The case is believed by some to have a political background because Professor Bandazhevsky used to criticize the government a lot for neglecting Chornobyl (Chernobyl) problems."
"Mr. Ravkov's lawyer, Lyudmila Lodova, says that the months in detention have seriously affected her client's health, and she appealed to the OSCE Group for help after all her petitions for a medical examination had been rejected. The OSCE officials' request to be allowed to see Mr. Ravkov in jail has been denied by Aleksandr Rakevich, a departmental chief with the Procurator General's Office. In his reply, Mr. Rakevich pointed out that 'such a visit appears inexpedient for tactical reasons while the investigation is in progress' and that "medical records show that Mr. Ravkov's health condition is satisfactory.' "
"There are reports that Mr. Ravkov was examined by doctors after his May 26-June 2 hunger strike, and that ECG testing gave evidence of a microfocal heart attack."
News Article: Health Minister Dismisses Arrested Homel (Gomel) Medical Institute Rector
"Igor Zelenkevich, the Belarusian minister of health, has sacked Yury Bandazhevsky, rector of the Homel (Gomel) State Medical Institute, who was arrested on suspicion of corruption on July 13 [1999]."
"Vladimir Ravkov, vice rector of the institute, was arrested the same day and charged with bribery later. Formal charges have not yet been brought against the head of the institute, but he is still held in detention. The case, which was instituted by the Gomel Regional Prosecutor's Office, is soon to be handed over to the Procurator General's Office or the Belarusian Military Prosecutor's Office, because Mr. Ravkov is a military serviceman."
"A reliable source said that there is no evidence against Mr. Ravkov. Prosecutors just have police information that an intermediary, a very old woman, allegedly handed Mr. Ravkov $2,500. They also have no evidence to prove that the woman acted as an intermediary."
"Mr. Bandazhevsky is reported to have been arrested after Mr. Ravkov was questioned. The latter has reportedly retracted his testimony. The Regional Prosecutor's Office has been denying Mr. Bandazhevsky's wife meetings with her husband."
News Article: Homel (Gomel) State Medical Institute Rector Arrested on Bribery Charges
"Professor Yury Bandazhevsky, rector of the Homel (Gomel) State Medical Institute, and one of the deputy rectors have been arrested and accused of taking bribes in 1998 and 1999."
"The Gomel Regional Prosecutor's Office has instituted criminal proceedings on the basis of evidence collected by the local branch of the Organized Crime and Corruption Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs."
"If convicted, the arrestees may face 8 to 15 years in prison and forfeiture of property."