Uladzimir Navumau: “Unique bomb exploded in Belarus”

Internal Affairs Minister told to journalists about the investigation of the blast in July 2008 in Minsk.

One of the high-profile events of the last year was an explosion in Minsk. More than 50 persons with different injuries were hospitalized then.

First law-enforcing agencies willingly came in contact with the press and told about the details of the investigation of the “malicious hooliganism”, but after a few months the press has to be content with scarce information. Are the Belarusian police unable to find the culprits? The Minister of Internal Affairs Uladzimir Navumau agreed to answer the questions of the Belarusian edition of “Komsomolskaya Pravda”.

- We have invited many experts from other countries to take part in the investigation. When they were demonstrated the explosive device hidden in a juice pack “Sadochok”, everybody said unanimously: there are no analogs to Minsk explosive device in the world. None of foreign experts have seen such a device before.

- ???

- It is really so. It’s not a secret any more that the explosive device found by us in Minsk, is called “kisa”, or triacetone triperoxide. But to produce 30 grams of the substance is a threat for a human life already, and in our case there were 700 grams! Everybody who wanted to do something like this previously, exploded. By the way, Minsk exploder used a light bulb as an ignition set.

- In the beginning there were many rumours about an attempt on the life of Lukashenka. However, the Internal Affairs Ministry initiated a criminal case on “malicious hooliganism” charges. What versions of the crime are you investigating now?

- Initially we had several versions, including terrorist attack, attempt on lives of high officials, hooliganism… At the moment we have come to a conclusion that some of the versions are inconsistent. And now we are studying two versions. The first one is an explosion on undetermined causes planned by a person who acted alone. The second one – a deeply secreted organisation could act at the territory of our country, and they pursue certain objectives.

- Mr Navumau, could it be said with full certainty that this audacious crime would be solved soon?

- Time is always needed for solving such a crime. I can offer you an example of the Unabomber who lived in the United States. This person sent mail bombs for 18 years and terrorized the whole America. Theodore Kaczynski, Assistant professor in mathematics turned out to be the Unabomber. Which is notable, his IQ was 160! It is twice as much as an ordinary person has.

Until all 13 component parts of the explosive device are studied, the case won’t be solved. It is known well now that all the parts (the battery, cables, alarm device) are produced abroad, but they had been bought at the territory of Belarus. And we suppose that the explosive device has been constructed domiciliary.

- Could you tell us the results of the fingerprinting which had been met negatively by many Belarusians?

- Thanks to this procedure the Interior Ministry has been able to solve dozens of grave crimes. 18 missing persons have been found; more than 1000 fingerprints left at scenes of crimes have been detected. Police seized about 900 firing arms articles over the 8 months of investigation, as well as 2 home-made explosive devices, more than 12 thousand bullets and 230 grenades, mines of the World War II time.

A Note:

It’s true that the Interior Ministry is in no hurry to speak about solving the crime. There is also no information about who could be behind the blast in Minsk. If it was an ambitious lone person, what could his motives be? For instance, in other countries right after a blast this or that terrorist organisation hurries to tell about their act and take responsibility for it. That hasn’t taken place in our country.

It is possible that in 8 months of investigation police advanced a lot. But the story with “Sadochok” juice pack is still relevant. Police is still searching for a shop assistant who wrote the price (5700 Br) on the pack.