The General Prosecutor’s Office of Belarus opened a criminal case against the mayor of the city of Dnipro Boris Filatov on the fact of inciting national hostility, reports TASS.
“It has been established that the suspect, being an official, organized the removal of the national symbol of the Republic of Belarus – the State Flag placed at the entrance to the building of the city council, and replaced him with a white-red-white cloth,” says published on Thursday Communication report.
In Minsk, they said that, by passing over the historical and cultural relic, the head of the Ukrainian city “humiliated the national honor and dignity of Belarusians.” “It clearly harms the close and friendly relations of our peoples, testifies to the reluctance to conduct a constructive dialogue,” the Prosecutor General noted. There noted that the illegal actions of Filatov were qualified under Part 2 of Art. 130 “Incorpolation of racial, national or religious hostility or retail” Penal Code of Belarus.
To organize a preliminary investigation, a criminal case is sent to the investigative committee of the republic, added Belarus.
Dnipro’s city authorities replaced the state flag of Belarus, who, together with the flags of other countries, was established near the city council, on the White-Red and White used by the Belarusian opposition. The mayor of the city of Boris Filatov, explained such a decision of the People’s Initiative and disagree with the policies of the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko in relation to Ukraine.
In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, the ambassador of Ukraine Igor Kizim, who was announced a decisive protest due to the incident in the Dnieper.