Clinton’s Bench destruction: US embassy urges Belarus authorities to trace vandals


The U.S. Embassy in Minsk has expressed deep concern over the destruction of the memorial bench presented by U.S. President Bill Clinton to the Belarusian people 25 years ago.

“Destroying the bench will not undermine U.S. support for Belarus’ independence and sovereignty nor for the constructive role Belarus plays in the region,” the diplomats said in a statement published on the US Embassy website.

The US side called on the Belarusian officials to investigate and prosecute those responsible and expressed hope that this horrible act did not represent the Belarusian people or the Belarusian government.

“Vandals may easily destroy the bench, but not what it represents. As a place of reflection for those visiting Kurapaty, the bench symbolizes the shared values of standing firmly and resolutely against tyranny and terror, and the inherent hope that the events that occurred 80 years ago at that location would never happen again anywhere,” the statement reads.

On February 1, unknown individuals demolished the bench presented by Bill Clinton who visited Kurapaty, a Stalin-era mass executions site near Minsk, in 1994. It has been vandalized about 20 times, but the Belarusian authorities have never traced any committers.

Kurapaty, a place on the outskirts of Minsk, is not just the national memorial and a mass grave of the victims of Stalinist repression; since 1993, it has been is a site of historical and cultural heritage. Belarusian president Alyaksandr Lukashenka has never paid tribute to the killed in Kurapaty.

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Kurapaty: Vandals destroy Clinton’s Bench again
2019.02.04 15:44

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