English

Kanavalaw, Kavalyow sentenced to death in subway bombing trial

Supreme Court Judge Alyaksandr Fedartsow on November 30 sentenced Dzmitry Kanavalaw and Uladzislaw Kavalyow, young men resident in Vitsyebsk, to death over a series of bomb explosions, including the deadly subway bombing in Minsk, BelaPAN said.

Members of the audience that packed the 500-seat courtroom responded to the sentence with cries of “Shame!”, “We don’t believe!”, “Butchers!” and “Dzima, say something!”

Mr. Kavalyow seemed tense after hearing the verdict. Mr. Kanavalaw showed apathy.

Mr. Fedartsow said that the Supreme Court’s decision was not subject to appeal, but Messrs. Kanavalaw and Kavalyow might apply to Alyaksandr Lukashenka for a pardon.

The pair was found guilty on almost all counts, including also the two 2005 bomb explosions in Vitsyebsk and the bomb attack that occurred during an open-air Independence Day concert in Minsk in July 2008. In particular, Mr. Kanavalaw was found guilty of perpetrating them, while Mr. Kavalyow of acting as his accomplice, as well as of failure to report the crimes or their preparation. Mr. Kanavalaw was also found guilty of a series of attacks involving explosives that were committed in his hometown between 2001 and 2005.

Leaving the courtroom, some members of the audience continued crying out “Shame!”, “We don’t believe!”, “Butchers!”.

According to Mr. Fedartsow’s decision, all objects collected at the scenes of the subway bombing and the 2005 and 2008 attacks should be destroyed. The damaged clothes of the victims, as well as objects found in the basement of Mr. Kanavalaw’s home in Vitsyebsk, where the prosecution said he had made bombs, are to be destroyed as well.

The judge ordered that the convicts pay compensation to the survivors of the 2005, 2008 and 2011 attacks, as well as to health institutions where the victims received medical treatment.

Mr. Kanavalaw had denied involvement in the bomb explosions in Vitsyebsk, while Mr. Kavalyow denied his complicity in all the bomb attacks.

The trial of the pair began in mid-September. Mr. Kanavalaw kept silent during the entire hearing.

On November 18, Alyaksandr Lukashenka said in an interview with a Russian television channel that the young men should receive “the harshest punishment possible.”

Eleven people were immediately killed and four more died later in hospitals after the bomb blast ripped through the Kastrychnitskaya subway station in Minsk during the evening rush hour on April 11, 2011. More than 200 people were wounded.

Messrs. Kanavalaw and Kavalyow were arrested the following day after the attack.