International Observation Mission about tragic events in Minsk on April 11

Yesterday on April 11, 2011 a bomb exploded in Minsk at Oktyabrskaya subway station, resulting in more than 10 killed and over 100 wounded.
International Observation Mission brings its sincere condolences to victims’ families and all those injured.

We welcome the intention spoken out by the  President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko to make a full and  transparent investigation of this act of violence. We assume that transparency of investigation implies the opportunity for free and independent work  of journalists and civil society organizations.

We consider the openness of investigation and possibility of public discussion of its results to be highly important for the society.

We hope that these tragic events will not be used as justification for the increasing of pressure on civil society under the veil of fight against terrorism, as it happened recently in some other countries.

With regards,

Head of the Mission
Andrey Yurov
Mission Representative in the Republic of Belarus
Alexander Mntsanakyan