Double death sentence

The supreme court in Belarus sentenced two men to death on Wednesday, having found them guilty of carrying out a bomb attack at a metro station in Minsk on April 11, 2011. The attack killed 15 people and injured over 200.

In a 112-page verdict, prime suspect Dmitry Konovalov was said to be the main perpetrator, but his childhood friend and accomplice Vladislav Kovalyov also received the death sentence. Belarus, not an EU member, is the last European country to use the death penalty; the killings will be carried out by a gunshot to the neck.

"The court has established that Konovalov carried out an act of terrorism," judge Alexander Fedorstov told the hearing, as the suspects listened from inside a metal cage. "The motives involved an attempt to destabilize the situation and scare people."

Further bomb attacks

The men - who are explosives enthusiasts - are thought to have used a home-made bomb for the attack, hidden in a sports bag underneath a bench and then detonated by remote control.

According to the Belta government news agency in Belarus, the court also ruled that Konovalov and Kovalyov had been involved in separate, non-fatal bombings in 2005 and 2008 - one of which injured 54 people. That attack took place in a Minsk city square where President Alexander Lukashenko was present; though he was unharmed in the incident.

The court ruled that the attacks aimed to shake Lukashenko's 17-year grasp of power in Belarus. The veteran leader, first dubbed "Europe's last dictator" by the US administration of George W. Bush, has the power to pardon Konovalov and Kovalyov. However, Lukashenko said in an interview with Russian state television last month the he believed "these actions deserve the strictest punishment possible."

Author: Mark Hallam (AFP, AP, dpa)
Editor: Michael Lawton