Lyabedzka and Kalyakin just escaped a car crash :: Charter'97 :: News

An irreparable tragedy could have taken place on August 31, when co-chairmen of the Political Council of the United Democratic Forces Syarhei Kalyakin and Anatol Lyabedzka were on their way from Brest, where the meeting with democratic activists took place.

In the town of Byaroza politicians decided to stop to drink a coffee. After 20 minutes in a cafe they continued their trip. In a hundred and a half kilometers the owner of the car Mitsubishi Galaxy felt that he cannot manage the car. The car was inspected. It was found out that screw-bolts in one of the wheels were loose. “The wheel could broke away if we traveled 40-50 more kilometers. Considering the speed at Moscow highway, the outcome could be tragic,” S. Kalyakin told to “Belarusian partisan”.

As stated by the politician, the car where the oppositionists traveled back to Minsk was in good repair after a recent technical inspection. “And these screw-bolts couldn’t get loose themselves,” S. Kalyakin said.

His version of the incident was the following. A minibus with four young men arrived to the parking near the café were the leaders of the United Democratic Forces had rest. First they started a fight. One of the unknown touched Mitsubishi Galaxy, checking whether the alarm would go off. After that, S. Kalyakin said, they entered the café and stayed there for a few minutes without ordering anything. Then two of them left, and two stayed to keep a lookout. “When we went out of the café, the minibus left. And it takes 30 seconds to unscrew bolts,” S. Kalyakin said.

Curiously enough, the car of the politicians was stopped by traffic police in Brest for proof of the passengers’ identity. So secret services knew well who was traveling in Mitsubishi Galaxy. S. Kalyakin does not exclude that these facts constitute links in one and the same chain, which could end tragically.