Vladislav Kovalyov and Dmitry Konovalov

BELARUS: MINSK METRO BOMBERS EXECUTED

March 18, 2012: state news agency BelTA reported Belarus executed Vladislav Kovalyov and  Dmitry Konovalov, the two men sentenced to death for their role in the 2011 Minsk subway blast. On 17 March, Belarus informed the mother of Vladislav Kovalyov that her son had been executed by shooting. "I have received a notification saying the verdict had been fulfilled," Lyubov Kovalyova told reporters in Minsk. The letter had a postmark of 16 March, she said, noting, “The notice was dated by the Supreme Court on 16 March. Hence, they may have shot him before then. Perhaps, on 15 March.” The brief letter, signed by the deputy chairman of the Supreme Court, said, “I inform you that the sentence of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus of 30 November 2011 in relation to your son, Kovalyov Vladislav Yuryevich, has been carried out.” The curt letter tells Lyubov Kovalyova that she can collect a death certificate but does not mention collecting her son's body. Belarus is the only country in Europe that still has the death penalty. Prisoners are told of their impending execution only moments before it is carried out. Typically, the condemned are shot in the back of the head. Bodies are buried in unmarked graves that are kept secret from family and friends. The attack of 11 April 2011 to a central Minsk metro station killed 15 people and wounded hundreds of others. Kovalev and Dmitry Konovalov, both 26 years old, were convicted of the attack on 30 November 2011. In the ruling, the court described the two men as "explosive enthusiasts" and said they posed an "exceptional danger to society". Lyubov Konovalova maintained that her son was innocent, and accused the Belarusian authorities of attempting to "pin their crimes on our children". On 14 March, President Alexander Lukashenko has refused to pardon the men despite calls by Western governments and rights groups not to carry out the death sentence. European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton criticized the executions. A 18 March statement issued by her spokesman said Ashton is "aware of the terrible crimes that these two men were accused of and her thoughts are with the victims and their families," but at the same time she "notes that the two accused were not accorded due process, including the right to defend themselves." “Therefore, the High Representative calls on Belarus, the only country in Europe still applying it, to join a global moratorium on the death penalty as a first step towards its universal abolition.” (Sources: IANS/RIA Novosti, Reuters, AFP, nytimes.com, 17/03/2012; RIA Novosti, 18/03/2012)