known death_date birth_place other_names nationality article_title residence employer name
activism , journalism september 3 , 2010 minsk , belorussian ssr , soviet union oleg bebenin belarusian aleh byabenin
 minsk charter97 aleh byabenin
aleh byabenin

aleh byabenin -lrb- ; `` oleg bebenin '' -rrb- was a belarusian journalist .
he was the founder and director of the minsk-based pro-democracy news website charter 97 .
he was also the campaign press secretary and friend of andrei sannikov .
byabenin was a leading journalist in belarus .
during the 2010 presidential elections in belarus , byabenin was a key member of leading opposition candidate andrei sannikov 's campaign .
he was also director and co-founder of charter97 , which was one of the few outlets for information on `` opposition '' candidates during the election .
on september 3 , 2010 , late on friday afternoon , byabenin was found hanged in the stairway at his summer house on the outskirts of minsk .
belarusian authorities claimed that byabenin had committed suicide .
sannikov expressed suspicion of the `` suicide '' .
byabenin left no suicide note and none knew any health problems .
his friend dmitry bandarenko , who saw the body , told that byabenin 's right ankle was badly wrenched and that he had unexplained bruises on his left hand , chest , and back .
sannikov also stated he had no confidence in the official investigation : `` it 's impossible in this situation of dictatorship .
eleven years have passed since the first disappearances began in belarus and nothing was investigated . ''
