Belarus criticised for ‘hasty’ execution of subway bombers

Two men convicted of carrying out a fatal subway bombing last year in Belarus’ capital have been executed, drawing condemnation from anti-death penalty activists and the European Union.

The mother of one of the two 26-year-olds said yesterday that she had received official notification of the execution of her son, Vladislav Kovalyov.

State television reported on Saturday that both Kovalyov and Dmitry Konovalov had been shot.

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,” Lyudmila Gryaznova said. “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 300 in April.

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 yesterday.

“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.”

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton criticised the executions, noting “that the two accused were not accorded due process, including the right to defend themselves.”