Optimization of Belarus' Investigation Committee nearing completion

MINSK (BelTA) – The optimization of the Belarusian Investigation Committee is nearing completion, Chairman of the Investigation Committee Ivan Noskevich told Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko on 4 May, BelTA has learned.

The President gave an instruction to optimize the organization and staff of the Investigation Committee at the session of the board in February 2016. Ivan Noskevich said that the work is nearing completion: a new analytical department has been created in the central apparatus, the main department of finance and internal affairs, which was established during the formation of the Investigation Committee, and a number of posts have been abolished.

The head of state praised the measures to abolish internal and other related structures. “This is your and my authority. It benefits the state,” Alexander Lukashenko noted. At the same time, he stressed that the best workers should remain in the Investigation Committee. Those who, for example, do not want to continue their service can be dismissed. Ivan Noskevich said that there have been no claims regarding the staff optimization in the Investigation Committee so far.

The president learned that the criteria of evaluating the efficiency of the investigation work have changed. For example, public opinion is now taken into account. Alexander Lukashenko was also briefed on the labor discipline in the Investigation Committee, the progress in the investigation into high-profile criminal cases monitored by the head of state.

The president also focused on the development of interagency cooperation, in particular, with the Investigation Committee of Russia. “It is very important for us to build a tough line of fight against crimes,” Alexander Lukashenko said and added that the cooperation between Belarusian and Russian investigators has an impact on the efficiency of crime prevention activities in the two countries.

The head of state also spoke in positive terms about the appointment of Ivan Noskevich as the chairman of the Investigation Committee as he is an honest and reliable man. According to the president, from time to time he receives information that certain people are trying to influence the Investigation Committee because of the appointment of a new chairman.

In this context he emphasized that there should not be such influence on the Investigation Committee. “You are subordinate to the president,” Alexander Lukashenko reminded. “There should not be any influence on investigators, they should act within the law and be absolutely independent people,” the head of state concluded.