14 December, Minsk /BELTA correspondent/. A criminal case has been initiated against the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus – Head of the Public Security Police, Yevgeny Poludzen, due to his repeated abuses of power, a source in the prosecutor's office told a BELTA correspondent. "The grounds for initiating the case were sufficient data indicating signs of crimes, in connection with the revealed repeated facts of Yevgeny Poludzen's abuse of his official powers for mercenary and other personal gain," the prosecutor's office noted. The department added that the abuses resulted in damage to state property on a large scale and significant harm to state interests in the form of discrediting government bodies. "During the investigation, information about Poludzen committing other corruption-related crimes, including bribery, is also being verified," the prosecutor's office added. On December 8, with the sanction of the Prosecutor General, a pre-trial detention measure was applied to Yevgeny Poludzen. As reported, the preliminary investigation of this criminal case is being carried out by an investigative team of the Prosecutor General's Office. The case against Yevgeny Poludzen was initiated on December 8 under Part 3 of Article 424 "Abuse of power or official authority" of the Criminal Code. -0-

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