For the first time ever vandals in Kurapaty detained (Photo)

On November 1 at half past 9 p.m. public activists detained two young men who were damaging crosses.

“Radio Svaboda” was informed about that by an executive secretary of the Conservative Christian party Belarusian Popular Front Ales Chakholski.

After acts of vandalism, public activists started to patrol the wooden area. As told by one of the activists, he and his friend were making a tour of duty in the wooden area, and they saw two young men who came near the crosses and started to break them. They overturned and broke 5 crosses. Public activists detained them and called in policemen of Minsk district police department.

As said by the activist, the vandals were drunk, and they used foul speech. While arrival of the policemen was expected, the young men called to their parents. A mother of one of them started to policemen not to detain her son, as he is underage. After the calls of the young men several unknown men arrived who haven’t presented themselves.

Policemen and the detained vandals and two public activists as witnesses went to the police department of Baraulyany.

At 10.30 p.m. the leaders of the Conservative Christian Party Belarusian Popular Front Yuras Belenki and Valer Bujval arrived. Criminal law experts started investigatory actions in their presence.

“It has happened what should have happened. They were to be detained. It is a sign from God that it has happened on the eve of Dzyady, when the attention is turned to Kurapaty, to the memory of forefathers,” Yuras Belenki said.

It is not the first occasion of vandalism in the wooden area Kurapaty, where in 1937-1941 NKVD punishers shot from 40,000 to 200,000 people according to different estimations.

In the end of the 1990ies the tablet on the cross “To martyrs of Belarus” was broken.

As for the memorial sign “From the US nation to people of Belarus for the sake of memory”, there have been 12 cases of vandalism. In 2002 the bench of Clinton was repaired and installed by the US Ambassador to Belarus Michael Kozak.

In December 2005 unknown vandals twice defiled the crosses of Kurapaty, the monument to killed Jews and the icon of Our Lady of Kurapaty (painter Alyaksei Marachkin) by swastikas and satanist writings. The crosses were broken many times. Criminal actions were opened basing on these facts, however, criminals have never been found. Last year on the eve of Dzyady the Cross of Martyrdom was broken, and the Conservative Christian Party Belarusian Popular Front activists renewed it.

Citizens addressed the regime with a call to provide protection of the wooden area of Kurapaty, which is officially a historical and cultural area of the first category. However, as an answer the police department of Minsk district offered the organizing committee to pay for guarding the wooden area of Kurapaty.

As we have informed, on November 2 the rally dedicated to Dzyady, the memory day of forefathers, will be held.