BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

09/07/2008

Police have arrested four suspects over Minsk explosion - KGB

MINSK. July 9 (Interfax) - Belarusian law enforcement agencies have detained four suspects in their investigation into the recent blast in Minsk, Minsk and Minsk region KGB department head Igor Kuznetsov told Interfax.

"Four people have been detained in the case of the explosion in Minsk. We have been checking whether they belong to any unregistered, violent organizations," he said.

"They are not yet suspects in the case. They were merely detained. There is an ongoing investigation into the criminal case opened following the explosion in Minsk," he said.

"We have been examining whether they have had any links to the White Legion," he said.

The detainees are in the detention center on Okrestin Street, in Minsk.

According to earlier reports, those detained in the case of the Minsk explosion on July 4 included former White Legion leader Sergei Cislov and former activists Miroslav Lazovsky and Igor Korsak.

According to some Internet information, the White Legion is a radical nationalistic group. It was created on the basis of the youth wing of the Belarusian Association of the Military (Belaruskaye Zgurtavanne Vayskoutsau) in 1995. It sees violence as a legitimate means of political struggle. The organization was for the large part neutralized by law enforcement agencies by 1997. The number of its adherents is unknown.

On the night before July 4, an explosive device went off during a concert that marked celebrations of Belarus' Independence Day, near the Hero City Minsk monument. The explosion injured about 50 people, 46 (Russian and Ukrainian citizens) were admitted to hospitals.

Source:

http://www.interfax.com/3/409787/news.aspx

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