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| Dmitry Konovalov and Vladislav Kovalyov |
MINSK, Belarus — Two men convicted of carrying out a deadly subway bombing last year in Belarus' capital have been executed, drawing strong condemnation from activists and the European Union.
The mother of one of the two 26 year olds said that she had received official notification of the execution of her son, Vladislav Kovalyov. State television reported late Saturday that both Kovalyov and Dmitry Konovalov had been put to death, which in Belarus is done with a shot to the back of the head.
Human rights activists condemned the hasty executions, saying they deprived society of the opportunity to learn the truth.
"The government was in a rush to throw a white shroud over all the contradictions and discrepancies in the case," activist Lyudmila Gryaznova said Sunday. "The execution of the so-called terrorists, whose guilt remains under suspicion, gives the appearance that the government is concealing the traces of the crime."
The men were convicted in November of planting a bomb in Minsk's busiest subway station that killed 15 people and wounded more than 300 in April.
Konovalov had acknowledged his guilt. Investigators said Kovalyov was aware of the plans to bomb the subway, but he insisted he did not take part and pleaded not guilty. Their defense lawyers said the evidence presented in court was circumstantial and inconclusive.
Critics of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko accused his government of staging the bombing to divert attention from the worst economic crisis in the country's post-Soviet history.
Belarusians angered by the executions came to lay flowers or light candles outside the subway station on Sunday.
"The government shot these boys so quickly that I have even more doubts about their guilt," said Tatyana Snezhinskaya, a 42-year-old teacher, who was among those laying flowers. "The death penalty should be abolished. We should not take the lives of people, especially of those who might be the victims of judicial errors or political orders."
Flowers also were laid outside Belarus' embassy in Moscow, where someone had placed a sign with photographs of the two men and the words: "They were killed on Lukashenko's whim."
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| President Lukashenko |
European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is "aware of the terrible crimes that these two men were accused of and her thoughts are with the victims and their families," her spokesman said in a statement.
"At the same time, the high representative notes that the two accused were not accorded due process, including the right to defend themselves."
Lukashenko last week ignored appeals from Ashton and others for clemency.
The time and place of executions in Belarus are kept secret. Relatives of those executed are notified afterward, if at all, and are not told where the bodies are buried.
Belarus is the only country in Europe that still puts people to death, and rights activists claim that around 400 people have been executed since the 1991 Soviet collapse.
Source: AP, March 18, 2012
Belarus Censured for Executing 2 in Subway Bombing
The executions were condemned by Western officials and international human rights groups, who expressed serious doubts that the men had been guilty.
Many in Belarus apparently also have their doubts. On Sunday, people laid flowers and lighted candles at the site of the April 2011 bombing in the Belarus capital, Minsk, in what independent news agencies in the country described as a protest against the executions.
At one point, the news agencies reported, someone placed a photo of Vladislav Kovalyov, one of the executed men, outside the subway station where the explosion occurred.
Mr. Kovalyov and a childhood friend, Dmitri Konovalov, both 26, were convicted in November and sentenced to death for the bombing, which killed 15 people and injured about 200.
Mr. Kovalyov’s execution was confirmed first by his family members, who received a letter from the Supreme Court on Saturday.
The two men were arrested just over a day after the bombing and immediately confessed. But no clear motive was ever established, and Mr. Kovalyov later retracted his confession, saying it was extracted under torture.
The speed with which the men were tried and executed has raised further questions.
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Source: The New York Times, March 18, 2012
Council of Europe shaken by executions in Belarus
(Google Translation) President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Jean-Claude Mignon said on Sunday that he was "deeply troubled" by the executions of Vladislav Kovaljeva and Dmitry Konovalova in Belarus who were sentenced to death and executed for the bombing of the subway in Minsk last year.
"It has been done something irreparable. Belarusian authorities have once again turned a deaf ear to the numerous appeals of the international community," said Mignon in a statement. "We strongly condemn the executions. Death penalty is cruel and useless. It is a barbaric practice that has no place in civilized society," he added.
The Council of Europe, whose main mission is the protection of human rights and democracy, demands the abolition of the death penalty. Belarus is the only European country that is not part of that organization.
Mignon said that the Parliamentary Assembly called on Belarusian authorities on several occasions not to put to death the two men "not only on the basis of principled opposition to capital punishment, but also because of the numerous issues regarding the fairness of their trial."
The family of one of the convicts, Vladislav Kovaljova, on Saturday announced that the Belarusian Supreme Court received a notice of making the judgment. Belarusian Television today announced that he has executed as well as Dmitri Konovalov.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko refused to pardon them even though this was urged by European human rights groups.
Dmitry Konovalov and Vladislav Kovaljov, both aged 26, were sentenced in November to the death penalty. Their lawyers argued at trial that their guilt was not proved.
The terrorist attack on the subway in Minsk in 2011killed 15 and wounded over 200 people.
Belarus is the only country in Europe that still has the death penalty. It is carried out by firing a bullet in the nape of convicts. Place and time of execution are always secret, and the family never finds out where he buried the body of murdered.
Source: Slobodna Dalmacija, March 18, 2012
Statement released by the press service of the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs, Catherine Ashton.
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