Minsk, April 16: This week’s lethal metro bomb attack in Minsk was motivated by the desire to kill as many people as possible, said Belarus chief investigator Maxim Voronin on Friday.
This conclusion was based on statements made by the five suspects in detention, Voronin said.
Human rights observers however expressed doubt over the investigation, saying such statements are often extracted by means of torture.
Meanwhile, one of the about 150 persons injured in Monday’s bomb attack on Minsk’s Oktiabrskaya underground station succumbed to injuries, raising the deao 13.
Viktor Vegera, deputy head of the Belarusian KGB, again said responsibility for the attack lay at the feet of the pro- Western opposition.
Although the suspects had no obvious political motive, the opposition should ‘consider the effect their words have on the minds of young people,’ Vegera said.
The opposition has expressed fears that the regime of Alexander Lukashenko – often criticised in the West as ‘the last dictator in Europe’ – will use the attack as a pretext for a political crackdown.
‘In regime circles there seems to be more rejoicing over the attack, than a triggering of deep sorrow,’ said opposition leader Vladimir Borodatch.
–Agencies