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Authorities ignore anniversary of metro bombing

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Authorities ignore anniversary of metro bombing

No official events will be held to commemorate the victims of the Minsk metro bombing.

BelaPAN has learnt it from the press service of the Minsk executive committee.

A bomb exploded at the Kastrychnitskaya metro station in Minsk on April 11, 2011.

The blast killed 15 people and injured 387. Dzmitry Kanavalau and Uladzislau Kavaliou of Vitebsk were accused of organising the blast. Both were detained next day, on the evening of April 12. Besides the metro bombing, they were accused of organising blasts in Vitebsk in Autumn 2005 and in Minsk on July 4, 2008.

The criminal case was heard by the Supreme Court. Kanavalau pleaded guilty to all counts. Kavaliou denied he had been involved in organising the three blasts, and said he had given evidence against Kanavalau and himself under pressure from investigators. On November 30, the court sentenced them to death.

Many people in Belarus, including some victims of the attack, doubt Kanavalau and Kavaliou are really guilty. They say the trial failed to comply with legal rules, and the court ignored arguments by the defence. Human rights defenders note the unprecedentedly quick execution of the convicts that looks suspicious, as they think.

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