• Hazing Deaths Database:
  • Blog
  • Storytelling
  • Bio
  • High School Sexual Hazing Incidents
  • Campus Speaker: Hazing & Binge Drinking
  • Hank Nuwer: selected media coverage
  • World Hazing Incidents
  • “Hazing,” “Sons of the Dawn,” “Legend of Jesse Owens”

Hank Nuwer's Hazing Scholarship Site

Follow me on Social Media

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Old-style “grandfather” hazing may have killed conscript: 37 recent suicides in Belarus

November 1, 2017 By Hank Nuwer Leave a Comment

Belarus death and excerpt:

MINSK — Investigators in Belarus say 10 servicemen have been charged in connection with the death of a private who was found hanged after complaining that he had been hazed and pressured for money by superiors.

In an October 31 statement, the Investigative Committee said that eight sergeants, one ensign, and one lieutenant in the Belarusian military were charged over the death of Alyaksandr Korzhych.

The statement did not specify the charges. It said that another officer, a captain who has not been arrested or charged, is also a suspect in the case.

Korzhych, 21, was found hanging in the basement of the medical unit at the Pechy military training base northeast of Minsk on October 3, less than five months after he was drafted. His feet were bound with a shoestring, and a T-shirt cloaked his head.

The conscript’s relatives say he complained of being the target of hazing by senior officers. In particular, he told family and friends that he was being pressured for money by his superiors.

Korzhych was the second conscript found hanged at an army base in Belarus in less than six months, sparking a debate about hazing in the army and calls for the defense minister’s resignation.

The Investigative Committee initially said it was a suicide.

But after Korzhych’s relatives and human rights activists started a campaign urging authorities to investigate the death, the committee launched an investigation into suspected violations of army regulations, abuse of authority, and fraud.

Hazing has been a serious problem in militaries throughout the former Soviet Union, with pressure for payments frequently reported by victims.

In Belarus, 37 suicides were registered in the armed forces between 2008 and 2017, according to Defense Ministry statistics.

In 2017 alone, there were four suicides in the Belarusian armed forces, according to media reports.

Filed Under: Hazing News

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Contact Inquiries

Hank Nuwer

Correspondence: Hank Nuwer at Hnuwer@hanknuwer.com   Phone number upon request.  Available presentations USA, … Email to book a date.

Sons of the Dawn

Sons of the Dawn: A Basque Odyssey: Hank's novel is for teens 11-18 but also meant to be enjoyed by … Read More

Hazing Deaths Database:

… Read More

Thank you, AFA

New scholarship from Brazil: Hazing at the university and gender violence: a literature integrative review

doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.7213/psicolargum.39.103.AO02 Trotes na universidade e violência de gênero: uma revisão integrativa de literatura Hazing at the university and gender violence: a literature integrative review   Novatadas en la universidad y violencia de género: una revisión integradora de la literatura Adriane Roso https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7471-133X Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), adriane.roso@ufsm.br Janine Gudolle de Souza https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6477-4190 […]

A Poland-Union City Love story.

Here is the link. Hank   My wife Gosia earned her Green Card in October 2019. She gave eight-weeks’ notice at her chief accountant job in Poland and shipped what she could to Indiana. “Wait, how did a fellow from Indiana meet a Polish lass,” you may ask? I persuaded Gosia in June of 2015 […]

No charges in Cornell hazing death

New York Post

Archives


Hank Nuwer's Hazing Scholarship Site is proudly powered by WordPress