BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

20/07/2008

All Opposition Activists Held Over Minsk Explosion Released Without Charge

MINSK. July 20 (Interfax) - Three more suspects in the July 4 explosion case have been released from custody in Minsk, Vladimir Labkovich, Secretary for the Belarusian People's Front's Conservative Christian Party (BPF CCP), told Interfax on Sunday.

"BPF CCP activist Ilya Bogdan, whose ten-day period of arrest has expired, was today released from a pre-trial detention facility in Minsk. He was released without charge," Labkovich said.

Two more opposition suspects in the explosion case, Yury Karetnikov and Mikhail Sheremet, were released last night. They too had their ten-day arrests expire and no charges were brought against them either, the official said.

Currently, one BPF CCP activist, Anton Koipish, still remains in custody, "his ten-day arrest expires tonight," he said.

Koipish is the last opposition activist detained in Minsk in connection with the Minsk explosion, Labkovich said.

"According to unconfirmed reports, several dozen people arrested in connection with the explosion may still remain in custody, however, there are no opposition activists among them," he said.

Law enforcement authorities declined to comment on the arrested suspects.

The explosion in central Minsk occurred in the early hours of July 4 during a concert on the occasion of Belarus' Independence Day. More than 50 people were injured as a result of the explosion.

The day earlier, Belarusian Prosecutor General Grigory Vasilevich said that no suspects in the explosion case have so far been identified. "Serious analytical efforts are being made to identify the culprits responsible for the explosion. The search is being held nationwide," Vasilevich told journalists in Minsk on July 19.

Source:

http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews+articleid_2414036&title=All_Opposition_Activists.html

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