Internal Ministry revealed details about the detained persons

During the meeting with senior officials of the Gomel Region, President Lukashenko informed on detention of seven people for their attempts to commit terrorist attacks

“I have been reported by the Interior Minister: tonight and yesterday afternoon, six or seven people were detained who tried to commit terrorist attacks. As for some of them, we were keeping watch over them, waiting until we could video record their action. Everything has been recorded. They took against civil servants, especially prosecutors and even judges. Seven people have been detained. We are on the hunt for one more. We will find him. He has supposedly gone to Russia, but they will take him back to us,” said the President.

The police revealed the details: the employees of the fifth department (for Minsk) of the Main Directorate for Combating Organised Crime and Corruption (GUBOPiK) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus – as a result of operational-search activities – identified members of the criminal group who committed a number of high-profile crimes in Minsk and the Minsk Region in 2021. A year ago, they created a closed Telegram group, entitled Kulinarnye Retsepty [cooking recipes], or Kniga Retseptov [recipe book], or Bon Appetit for their intended actions directed against officials of state authorities and administration, as well as actions aiming to damage urban infrastructure. At different times, it included up to 10 people. This group contained information about the crimes they committed. From there it was transmitted for publication in the Telegram channel Busly Lyatsyats [storks are flying], which was part of the informal organisation Supratsiu, declared terrorist by the Supreme Court on December 1st this year.

As was identified by the GUBOPiK employees, the members of the group committed a number of crimes. In March, they poured red paint on a judge’s car and damaged four car tyres. In the same month, the car of a journalist of a national edition was damaged in Minsk, in April – the windows of an employee of the Minsk prosecutor’s office were broken, in May – the windows of a Minsk woman were damaged. In June, the criminals damaged 13 CCTV cameras, and a few days later they stole and subsequently destroyed another 21 similar cameras.

All these ‘actions’ were covered in the Telegram channel Busly Lyatsyats. Under the videos of the crimes, the administrators of the Telegram channel left comments that these were nothing more than warnings about further violent actions against government officials.

Police officers identified and detained six members of the criminal group. Two more are on the wanted list.

Minsk investigators opened a criminal case against members of the criminal group for creating an organisation to commit terrorist activities or take part in them. Moreover, four criminal cases were initiated under the article ‘An act of terrorism against a stateman or public figure’. The GUBOPiK clarified that operational measures continue, so it is possible to establish the involvement of the above-mentioned persons in the commission of other crimes.

Photos: GUBOPiK of the Internal Ministry of Belarus