English

Kurapaty targeted by vandals again

Thirty-eight memorial crosses were felled at Kurapaty in a fresh vandal attack targeting the Stalin-era massacre site near Minsk.

As Valery Buyval, secretary of the Conservative Christian Party, told BelaPAN, the damage was discovered by activists of the party at the site on November 6.

Mr. Buyval suggested that the crosses could be knocked over on the night between November 4 and 5. “On November 4 Russia marks National Unity Day, a state holiday. On this day nationalist and Nazi forces hold marches in many cities, displaying relevant emblems and chanting hate slogans,” he said.

Police were called to the site to investigate the attack on November 6, the activist said, expressing hope that law enforcement agencies would take necessary measures to find the perpetrators.

The site, where dozens of thousands of people are believed to have been executed by the Soviet NKVD secret police in the 1930s and 1940s, is on the State Historical and Cultural Heritage List.

In the last decade, Kurapaty, which is not patrolled by police, has repeatedly been targeted by vandals, who break down crosses and damage and deface other memorial items.

In November 2008, criminal charges were brought against two teenagers who had allegedly pulled down several memorial crosses at Kurapaty. On May 30, 2009, the charges against them were dropped as part of an amnesty campaign.