On April 11, 2011, an awful tragedy occurred i Minsk: a bomb exploded at Kastrychnitskaya underground station, killing 15 and injuring hundreds.
Belsat TV documentary ‘Fear In A Land Of Peace’
Alyaksandr Lukashenka and his youngest son arrived at the scene and laid flowers when the bodies were still lying on the platform.
A day later, the Belarusian leader declared that the crime had been solved and perpetrators had been arrested.
Blast in Minsk mentro, CCTV footage
25-year-old Dzmitry Kanavalau and Uladzislau Kavaliou were accused of organising the terrorist attack in Minsk metro. Moreover, both became suspects of performing two other attacks in 2005 in Vitsebsk and 2008 in Minsk. The death verdict to Dzmitry Kanavalau and Uladzislau Kavaliou delivered by the Supreme Court of Belarus on November, 30, 2011 triggered a mixed reaction in society and drew attention to the death penalty issue once again.
Dzmitry Kanavalau, who was found guilty of the organization of the terror attack, admitted legality of the judgement and refused to lodge a petition for pardon. Uladzislau Kavaliou, however, denied his participation in organizing three explosions and stated that in the course of investigation he had incriminated himself and Kanavalau acting under pressure of law enforcement officials.
Uladzislau Kavaliou filed a petition for pardon addressed to president Alyaksandr Lukashenka as far back as beginning of December, 2011. His mother, Lyubou Kavaliova, was fighting for the son’s life from the moment of his arrest till his execution: she urged Lukashenka to order the one-year postponement of the execution of her son. But in vain: Uladzislau Kavaliou and Dzmitry Kanavalau were executed in March, 2012. Many people still believe the case to be controversial and wonder why the Belarusian leader took such a hasty decision.
It is still unknown who was behind the terrorist attack.
