Watchdog

MAHILEU, Belarus -- Police in the eastern Belarusian city of Mahileu have detained two teenagers suspected of desecrating a monument that honors victims of the Holocaust.

Alyaksey Kaplan, the chairman of the Directorate of the Jewish Community in Mahileu, told RFE/RL that police informed him on November 23 that two "skinheads" were detained and two other suspects were being sought.

The suspects face hooliganism charges.

Local authorities in Mahileu said on November 21 that unknown perpetrators had poured black paint on the memorial stone during the weekend.

The stone marks the site of the Jewish ghetto in Mahileu during the occupation of the town by Nazi Germany in World War II.

In October and November 1941, troops from Nazi Germany killed more than 10,000 Jews at the site.

In June 2012, vandals poured brown paint on the same stone. The perpetrators were never found.

State television in Turkmenistan reported on November 23 that the only son of President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has become a parliamentary deputy.

Serdar Berdymukhammedov is representing the region of Ahal after winning a November 20 election to replace a deputy who resigned from parliament.

In July, President Berdymukhammedov appointed his son to a management post in the Foreign Ministry.

He previously has worked in other government positions, including the post of deputy agriculture minister.

Serdar Berdymukhammedov’s political appointments and candidacy in the November 20 by-election is seen by political analysts as a sign that he is being groomed to eventually succeed his father as president.

Berdymukhammedov became acting president in December 2006 after the death of President Saparmurat Niyazov.

In September, Turkmenistan amended its constitution in a way that allows Berdymukhammedov to stay in office for life.

Based on reporting by Reuters and Altyn Asyr