Harry Pahanyaila: Blast organizers and executors face capital punishment

Two days has passed since the blast in Minsk metro. The terrorist act killed 12 people. About 200 people were injured and 100 of them are still in Minsk hospitals.

A criminal case according to article 298, part 3 (terrorism) has been started in connection with the incident. The article may lead to the capital punishment. Euroradio has discussed the article with Harry Pahanyaila, well-known Belarusian lawyer.

“Taking the aggravating consequences into account, the organizers and the executors are likely to be sentenced to the death penalty. Belarus practices shooting. I think that it is an extraordinary incident and the sentence will be like that”, - thinks the human rights defender.

The organizers, executors and accomplices will stand trial according to the same article, continues Harry Pahanyaila.

“It may be one criminal or a group that did it by prior arrangement. The organizers, accomplices and executors are to be subjected to responsibility according to one article. As a rule, organizers and executors are sentenced to the maximum punishment”.

The human rights activist cannot recall any crime that could be called terrorism in Belarus’ modern history. Although there have already been explosions in Belarus.

“We know that there were explosions at the “Friendship” oil-pipe and blasts in Vitsebsk.  There was a blast in Minsk Soviet District Court and an explosion on July 4, 2008 in Minsk. But the corpus delicti was different. For example, the blast of 2008 was qualified as hooliganism”.

Let us remind you that a criminal case according to the article “malicious hooliganism” was started after the explosion on the night of July 4, 2008. According to the article, the culprits could be imprisoned for the term from 3 to 7 years. 54 people were injured in that explosion.

This year’s blast is a classic example of terrorism that cannot be qualified as anything else, thinks Harry Panahyaila.

 
Photo by: belaruspartisan.org