Minsk blast probe targets dissidents
Source: Agencies |
April 14, 2011, Thursday
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AUTHORITIES in Belarus rounded up dissidents across the country yesterday for questioning in the Minsk subway bombing after the president declared that his political opponents might know who "ordered the attack."
The rush-hour bombing killed 12 people and wounded over 200 on Monday at the main subway station in Minsk, the capital.
No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the bombing, which Belarusian officials have called a terrorist attack.
Three suspects have been arrested and have confessed to involvement in the subway attack, Interior Minister Anatoly Kuleshov said yesterday. One of the suspects carried out the bombing, he said.
In a televised statement earlier in the day, President Alexander Lukashenko said two suspects had confessed, but said authorities still did not know the mastermind.
The president said he has asked the prosecutor general to interrogate leading opposition figures in connection with the blast "regardless of democracy, and cries and wailing of foreign sufferers."
"Maybe those politicians from the fifth column will open their cards and show who ordered it," he said.
Lukashenko called the dissidents "a fifth column" threatening the country.
"Opposition must exist in our country but we will not have a fifth column. All this rant about democracy has nothing to do with people's power and the democracy that we have in our country," he said yesterday.
Belarus is going through a severe economic crisis with hard currency reserves running critically low. People have been waiting in daylong lines to exchange Belarusian rubles for euros and dollars, fearing a likely devaluation of the national currency.
CCTV footage showed one of the suspects leaving a bag in the Oktyabrskaya subway station in central Minsk and feeling around for something in his pocket shortly before the explosion, Deputy Prosecutor General Andrei Shved said earlier yesterday.
Authorities have said the bomb was remote-controlled.
The interior minister said the main suspect also was involved in bombings in 2005 in the city of Vitebsk. An explosion at an outdoor cafe wounded 46 people, nine days after an explosion near a bus stop wounded two people. At the time, the security agencies said it was looking at several possible motives for the cafe blast, including a feud between criminal gangs.
Belarus observed a day of mourning for the victims yesterday. Flags flew with black ribbons and residents sobbed as they viewed portraits of the victims in the Minsk subway station.
One of Minsk's two subway lines remained closed yesterday, creating massive traffic jams in this city of 2 million.
The rush-hour bombing killed 12 people and wounded over 200 on Monday at the main subway station in Minsk, the capital.
No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the bombing, which Belarusian officials have called a terrorist attack.
Three suspects have been arrested and have confessed to involvement in the subway attack, Interior Minister Anatoly Kuleshov said yesterday. One of the suspects carried out the bombing, he said.
In a televised statement earlier in the day, President Alexander Lukashenko said two suspects had confessed, but said authorities still did not know the mastermind.
The president said he has asked the prosecutor general to interrogate leading opposition figures in connection with the blast "regardless of democracy, and cries and wailing of foreign sufferers."
"Maybe those politicians from the fifth column will open their cards and show who ordered it," he said.
Lukashenko called the dissidents "a fifth column" threatening the country.
"Opposition must exist in our country but we will not have a fifth column. All this rant about democracy has nothing to do with people's power and the democracy that we have in our country," he said yesterday.
Belarus is going through a severe economic crisis with hard currency reserves running critically low. People have been waiting in daylong lines to exchange Belarusian rubles for euros and dollars, fearing a likely devaluation of the national currency.
CCTV footage showed one of the suspects leaving a bag in the Oktyabrskaya subway station in central Minsk and feeling around for something in his pocket shortly before the explosion, Deputy Prosecutor General Andrei Shved said earlier yesterday.
Authorities have said the bomb was remote-controlled.
The interior minister said the main suspect also was involved in bombings in 2005 in the city of Vitebsk. An explosion at an outdoor cafe wounded 46 people, nine days after an explosion near a bus stop wounded two people. At the time, the security agencies said it was looking at several possible motives for the cafe blast, including a feud between criminal gangs.
Belarus observed a day of mourning for the victims yesterday. Flags flew with black ribbons and residents sobbed as they viewed portraits of the victims in the Minsk subway station.
One of Minsk's two subway lines remained closed yesterday, creating massive traffic jams in this city of 2 million.
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