Andres Herkel: Executed may know something about the real organisers of the terrorist attack

Why should the case of Uladzislau Kavalyou and Dzmitry Kanavalau, two young workers from Vitebsk, be so sensitive?

The news from Belarus were that the death sentence against two young men from the city of Vitebsk, accused of organising the explosion with many victims in the Minsk subway in April 2011, was carried out.

The mother of Uladzislau Kavalyou received an official notification saying that the capital punishment against her son was implemented (see the photo; a larger copy available at the link below).

Earlier this week, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said the two convicts would not be pardoned. He was asked to refrain from implementing the sentence by PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon and by this author as Rapporteur on Belarus. Moreover, similar appeals were sent by EU foreign affairs representative Catherine Ashton and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Now it turns out that appeals against the capital punishment were sent after the execution.

Why should the case of Uladzislau Kavalyou and Dzmitry Kanavalau, two young workers from Vitebsk, be so sensitive? Because, above all, is widely believed they were not the actual culprits. According to reports, over sixty per cent among the Belarus population, including the relatives of victims of the explosion, are not convinced about their guilt.

An opinion has also been expressed that the death sentence was executed so fast because the two men knew something about the real organisers of the terrorist attack. Many observers, as well as my sources in Belarus, say that nothing has inclined the Belarusans as strongly against the capital punishment as the case of the Vitebsk duo.

Konstantin Eggert, a columnist of the Russian daily Kommersant, wrote that the lives of the two men might have been saved if only the leaders of Russia would have appealed. Apparently, neither Putin nor Medvedev did make a phone call to Minsk.

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