Charter 97 (a declaration calling for democracy in Belarus) was founded by Aleh Byabenin, a Belarus journalist and campaign press secretary of Andrei Sannikov, whose alleged suicide by hanging was questioned by friends despite the Belarus government's assertion to the contrary.
Charter 97 (Belarusian: '97; Russian: '97) is a declaration calling for democracy in Belarus and a pro-human rights news site taking its inspiration from the declaration. On 3 September 2010, the body of the founder of Charter 97, Aleh Biabienin, was found in his house near Minsk. Aleh Byabenin (Belarusian:  ; Russian:   Oleg Bebenin) (c. 1974  September 3, 2010), a Belarusian journalist, was known for his involvement in Charter 97 in Minsk, Belarus. He was also the campaign press secretary and friend of Andrei Sannikov, who was the former deputy foreign minister and also one of the opposition candidates in the presidential election that took place in 2010. On September 3, 2010, Aleh Byabenin was found hanged in the stairwell of his summer home in Minsk, Belarus. Authorities immediately ruled his death as a probable suicide. Byabenin's friends and family strongly reject this, saying there was not suicide note and he had no reason to commit suicide. 
