Aleh Byabenin

Aleh Byabenin (Belarusian: Алег Бябенін ; Russian: Олег Бебенин Oleg Bebenin) (c. 1974 – September 3, 2010), a Belarusian journalist, was known for his involvement in Charter 97 in Minsk, Belarus. He was the co-founder, director, and journalist for the political opposition news website Charter 97. He was also the campaign press secretary and friend of Andrei Sannikov, who was the former deputy foreign minister and also one of the opposition candidates in the presidential election that took place in 2010.

On September 3, 2010, Aleh Byabenin was found hanged in the stairwell of his summer home in Minsk, Belarus. His brother discovered his body after he stopped returning phone calls.

Shortly before his death, Byabenin joined the campaign team of friend and presidential candidate, Andrei Sannikov, who was running against Alexander Lukashenko in the 2010 elections in Belarus.

Aleh Byabenin was the founder and leader of a pro-opposition news website in Belarus called Charter 97. He was also a very important member of friend Andrei Sannikov's campaign team for the 2010 elections.

Before his death, Aleh Byabenin's strong reporting towards the government had made him into a target, such as being abducted in 1997 and subjected to a mock execution and he was attacked in 1999 by right-wing activists. He had also received many anonymous death threats on his Charter 97 website in the months prior to his death.

A spokesperson for Index on Censorship said, "People in Minsk are very nervous, especially those close to Aleh. No suicide note was found, and Aleh just hours before his death had made phone calls to arrange a trip to the cinema with close friends. In recent months he had become increasingly concerned over the safety of fellow human rights activists and feared a return of the atmosphere of 1997-1999 , when many dissidents disappeared in suspicious circumstances, and Aleh himself was nearly killed."

Belarus' authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, of whom Aleh Byabenin has always been a harsh critic, has stripped the country of almost all non-state press and limited internet media. He has been in power of the former Soviet Republic since 1994, and does not accept any interference from others in his power. Since Lukashenko was elected president, a series of journalists and politicians have been, murdered, imprisoned, kidnapped, or disappeared.

In the 1990s, Aleh Byabenin works as the deputy chief editor of Imya, an independent newspaper. In 1998, he founded the Charter 97 (Belarusian: Хартыя'97 ; Russian: Хартия'97 ) website, which was a pro-opposition news website. He was also a member of Andrei Sannikov's campaign team during the 2010 elections.