In Brest, a Chechen Robbed a Zimbabwean. A Belarusian Helped with the Robbery but Returned the Wallet
The security guard of the karaoke club «Zhemchug» did not let the African man inside, and ten minutes later, together with an acquaintance, caught up with him on the street.
On April 9, 2023, around 5:20 AM, a citizen of Zimbabwe approached the entrance of the Brest karaoke club «Zhemchug». Near the door stood two drunk men — the security guard of the same club, who was off duty that day, and his acquaintance, Chechen Shamil Bitiev. The guard grabbed the Zimbabwean by the sleeve and did not let him into the club. He walked away towards the dormitory.
Ten minutes later, both got into a Grand Cherokee jeep, driven by another acquaintance. According to the driver's testimony, in the car, Bitiev «suggested finding the African man». When they saw the Zimbabwean on the pedestrian path, they ran after him.
The African man started to run and call for help, but they caught him. The Chechen took off his jacket and pulled out his passport, comb, and wallet from his pockets. He returned the passport. He handed the wallet to the guard, who took out two 50-ruble bills from it and returned the wallet.
As a result, they took a dark blue jacket worth 100 rubles, a comb worth 15 rubles, and 100 rubles in cash — a total of 215 rubles.
The driver remained in the car the whole time, recording what was happening on his phone. The recording, approximately two and a half minutes long, became evidence in the case along with video from the karaoke club's cameras and a neighboring building. At 5:46 AM, the African man called the police.
The guard was tried in Brest. He was found guilty under Part 2 of Article 206 of the Criminal Code — robbery committed by a group of persons — and received three months of detention. A racial motive was not considered in the case, although in the Belarusian code this is an independent qualifying feature.
However, Shamil Bitiev managed to escape. According to his mother, her son eventually went to Turkey, then to Croatia, and later to Austria, where he currently resides.
In April 2026, Bitiev was convicted in absentia in Chechnya — he was given 1 year in a penal colony.
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