Belarusian Prosecutors Admit Journalist Could Have Been Killed

Aleh Byabenin

Belarusian Deputy Prosecutor-General Andrei Shved says the Prosecutor-General's Office is checking several theories related to the death of journalist Aleh Byabenin, including suicide and murder.

Until now, Belarusian officials have insisted that Byabenin committed suicide.

Byabenin, 36, the founder and leader of the opposition website Charter 97, was found hanged in his country house near Minsk on September 3.

Earlier this month, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe called on the Belarusian authorities to hold an independent investigation into the death of Byabenin.

RFE/RL's Belarusian Service, with agency reports