Minsk metro bombing occurred three years ago

On April 11, 2011 a blast in Kastrychnitskaya metro station in Minsk took place.

15 persons died, 387 were injured and had wounds of varying severity. Two natives of Vitsebsk Dzmitry Kanavalau (Dmitry Konovalov) and Uladzislau Kavalyou (Vladislav Kovalyov) were charged with the bombing. They were detained as early as day after, on April 12 in the evening. In addition to the metro bombing, they were charged with the terrorist attacks in Vitsebsk in autumn 2005 and in Minsk on July 4, 2008.

The criminal case on the metro bombing was considered by the Supreme Court. During the trial Kanavalau admitted guilt in full. Kavalyou denied any participation in the three blasts, and besides he stated that during the prejudicial inquiry he had born false witness against himself and Kanavalau under the pressure of the investigators. On November 30 the court sentenced them to capital punishment.

Kavalyou filed a petition for review and a petition for pardon to Lukashenka. Kanavalau, according to official reports, had not filed any petitions.

Lukashenka refused to pardon, explaining it by “a danger of the committed acts of terrorism and their extremely harsh consequences for the society”.

The UN Committee on Human Rights, which received a complaint of Kavalyou’s family, called upon the authorities of Belarus not to execute the convict before his appeal considered. However, on March 17, 2012 it became known that the both death sentences had been enforced. According to the official document on Kavalyou’s death, it happened on March 15.

Many people in Belarus, including some terrorist attack victims, doubt Kavalyou and Kanavalau’s guilt. They underlined that the court trial fell short of legal norms, and pleading of the defence were ignored. In their turn, human rights defenders note that the terrorist attack convicts were executed in an unprecedentedly hurried manner, which looks suspicious according to them.

The international community, including the Council of Europe and the European Union, condemned the execution of Kanavalau and Kavalyou and once again called upon Belarus, the only country in Europe where death penalties still exist, to impose a moratorium of death penalty.

Mother of one of the executed, Lubou Kavalyova, does not believe that her son is guilty. For about a year she together with human rights activists tried to make the authorities give information about the place where he was buried and to give away his body. The parents of the second executed avoid contacts with journalists.