Scandal about Lukashenka's holidays in Alps unfolding
- 6.05.2010, 9:45
The secret visit of the Belarusian ruler to Austrian Alps has evoked a wide response in Austria.
As the Austrian APA agency has found out, a sports expert and a journalist Erwin Roth stated that he would continue his investigation about the secret rest of the Belarusian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka in Austrian Alps in March 2002.
According to the materials of the "red file" of Roth, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who was officially announced a non-grata person by Brussels then, was invited to the Alpine republic as the chairman of the National Olympic Committee of Belarus. He had been invited by the then head of the National Olympic Comittee of Austria and the owner of a network of Austrian casinos Leo Wallner. The Austrian side sponsored the visit of Lukashenka and his entourage from the secret account of the NOC, laws ofthe Austrian Republic. Now the prosecutor's office is studying the materials about the events which took place 8 years ago, "Radio Svaboda" informs.
However, as stated by the APA, Casinos Austria company evades to express its position on the matter. According to the International Olympic Committee and its Commission on Ethics, the Austrian NOC has not made an official report on the issue. As for the present leadership of the Austrian Olympic Committee, it defends Leo Wallner.
Meanwhile, the journalistic investigation by Erwin Roth has drawn a wide response in the press. As informed by APA, the current topics of Roth's journalistic investigation are the following:
* What is the source of the money which has been spent on the holiday of the Belarusian delegation? As representatives of Casino Austria stated later, this was not the company's money.
* Who are those "uninterested businessmen" who paid this bill?
* With whom concretely Lukashenka met during his secret visit to Austria?
* Who was invited to different receptions, talks and dinners?
All these and other questions have been sent by Erwin Roth on May 5 to Leo Wallner and other representatives of Casinos Austria, whose signatures are in the financial materials. The Austrian journalist asks to answer these questions on May 10 at the latest.