We remember... Vasily Leonov
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Vasily Leonov was one of the few members of the government
who neither supported nor helped organize it. This reform program
offended the President, who never forgot it. |
 Vasily
Sevastyanovich Leonov was born on April 16, 1938 into a family of
peasants in the village of Dubeets in the Kostyukovichy district
in the Mogilev Oblast.
His father and elder brother died in the war, thus at the age of
12 he became the head of the family.
After graduating from a secondary school he went to study at the
Belarusian Institute of Agricultural Mechanization. Following it
his professional life was initiated: from a position of an ordinary
collective farm engineer to that of a first secretary of the Mogilev
Oblast Communist Party Committee. The career advancement brought
along 24 different places of residence.
Almost three years as a Belarusian trade representative in Germany
permitted Leonov to thoroughly study the experience of the agricultural
cooperative reform. After returning to Belarus in 1994, he accepted
the position of an agricultural administer, provided he had a carte
blanche to reform agriculture. Lukashenko gave his approval for
Leonov to begin his reforms.
Leonov saw reforming based on a principle, tested in Eastern Germany,
to be the way out: changing forms of ownership while preserving
large-scale goods production. The “Rasvet” Joint Stock Company of
the Kirov District in the Mogilev Oblast was the model for reform.
The achievement of economic freedom would guarantee economic efficiency
in industry, this was the goal of Leonov. Leonov built a chain of
joint stock companies of the same kind throughout the country.
Thus, if we put aside pure economy, Leonov’s reforms objectively
speaking is nothing but an attempt to bring the peasants – 37% of
the country population – out from under the absolute control of
the vertical power structure. This power is little different from
the serfdom of the last decade of the 19th century and the Soviet
system of the early 60s, when the peasants had no passports.
Vasily Leonov was one of the few members of the government who
neither supported nor helped organize it. This reform program offended
the President, who never forgot it. When a decision was made to
arrest Vasily Leonov, the referendum piece played perhaps a decisive
role.
Vasily Leonov was arrested in his office on November 11, 1997.
His arrest was filmed by a group of professional cameramen from
the Belarusian television station. All channels of the CIS later
broadcast their three-minute piece.
The search of the Leonovs’ house and the houses of their children
was implemented with flagrant violation of the legislation. Relatives
were summoned to interrogations without subpoenas; their rights
were not explained to them. They were subjected to blatant, unnecessary
pressure.
 The
court proceedings in Leonov’s case went on for more than five months.
The case included Leonov’s alleged involvement in the murder of
Mikolutsky, as well as a bribery scheme. On January 14, 2000 the
Supreme Court of Belarus, with justice V.P. Chertovich presiding,
found him guilty of grand theft and bribery, which resulted in an
equivalent damage of $115. This was the basis of the four-year term
he was sentenced to in addition to the confiscation of property.
Nine months later, amnesty brought him release on October 5, 2001.
Today he is elected head of a broad public movement “For the New
Belarus.”
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