U.Baradach: If there are organizers among the victims, then the blast occurred at a wrong time in a wrong place
A reserve colonel, a former head of a special police troops group in Maryina Horka Uladzimir Baradach is sure that the explosion was a political action that took place earlier than it had been meant to. He gave an interview to ERB and noted that the blasting assembly and the detonator testified to the fact that the organizers were well-prepared. However, the Ministry of Internal Affaires has not announced the results of the expertise so it is difficult to judge. Baradach excludes the idea of gang wars or a provocation.
Talking about the government’s classification of the accident as hooliganism, Mr. Uladzimir noted that it was even worse than in Chechnya:
Uladzіmіr Baradach: In my opinion, if Belarusians are ready to engage in such hooliganism, it will be worse than in Chechnya. A political event was in process. It would have been a different thing if it had been a petard. However, the police say that it was a purposeful hand-made blasting assembly. So it was a political act. It had some purpose but it failed, most likely, it was a political action.
Uladzіmіr Baradach is sure that the concert Lukashenka ordered to continue had to be stopped because nobody knew who had organized that explosion:
Uladzіmіr Baradach: I think they should have got ready for another explosion and for the third one because nobody knew what those citizens were going to do next. They should have predicted some other inadequate actions of the hooligans. They could have engaged in a more serious hooliganism. Innocent civilians who did not even guess that it was not fireworks but a deadly explosion suffered from it.
Our interlocutor excluded the unofficial idea of gang wars. In his opinion, the explosion cannot be termed provocation either.
Uladzіmіr Baradach: If it looked like gang wars!.. Gang wars usually take place near lobbies, restaurants and cafés, in places where there are not that many policemen. There was some other purpose about it. However, I do not think it was a provocation. If it had been a provocation, there would have been some people arrested. Somebody would have confessed and somebody “would have avowed”…
According to the expert of ERB, the explosion took place earlier than it had to. He says that there are some facts testifying to it.
Uladzіmіr Baradach: The police said that the organizer was among the victims. It means that the explosion occurred because of negligence, the person failed to reach his or her destination. The explosion was caused by anxiousness or some other reason. If the organizers are among the victims, it means that the explosion occurred in a wrong place and at a wrong moment.
Uladzіmіr Baradach noted that it was hard to understand the goals of the action especially taking into account the fact that the results of the expertise of another blasting assembly found in the place of the celebration dated for Independence Day and the remains of the first one have not been announced yet.
Uladzіmіr Baradach: It is hard to say how professional the organizers were without this information. You can only guess the main goal of the action if you look at the blasting assembly and the detonator: it can be aimed at killing a certain person, a group of people or certain people in the crowd. There are loads of factors preventing us from making clear and professional conclusions.
ERB’s note:
Uladzіmіr Baradach is a reserve colonel, a former head of a special police troops group in Maryina Horka (1988-1991). He was a member of the Belarusian Union of Military Men at the beginning of the 1990s. He pledged allegiance to Belarus in Independence Square in Minsk on September 8, 1992.
In the photo: Uladzіmіr Baradach, the last person on the right
Talking about the government’s classification of the accident as hooliganism, Mr. Uladzimir noted that it was even worse than in Chechnya:
Uladzіmіr Baradach: In my opinion, if Belarusians are ready to engage in such hooliganism, it will be worse than in Chechnya. A political event was in process. It would have been a different thing if it had been a petard. However, the police say that it was a purposeful hand-made blasting assembly. So it was a political act. It had some purpose but it failed, most likely, it was a political action.
Uladzіmіr Baradach is sure that the concert Lukashenka ordered to continue had to be stopped because nobody knew who had organized that explosion:
Uladzіmіr Baradach: I think they should have got ready for another explosion and for the third one because nobody knew what those citizens were going to do next. They should have predicted some other inadequate actions of the hooligans. They could have engaged in a more serious hooliganism. Innocent civilians who did not even guess that it was not fireworks but a deadly explosion suffered from it.
Our interlocutor excluded the unofficial idea of gang wars. In his opinion, the explosion cannot be termed provocation either.
Uladzіmіr Baradach: If it looked like gang wars!.. Gang wars usually take place near lobbies, restaurants and cafés, in places where there are not that many policemen. There was some other purpose about it. However, I do not think it was a provocation. If it had been a provocation, there would have been some people arrested. Somebody would have confessed and somebody “would have avowed”…
According to the expert of ERB, the explosion took place earlier than it had to. He says that there are some facts testifying to it.
Uladzіmіr Baradach: The police said that the organizer was among the victims. It means that the explosion occurred because of negligence, the person failed to reach his or her destination. The explosion was caused by anxiousness or some other reason. If the organizers are among the victims, it means that the explosion occurred in a wrong place and at a wrong moment.
Uladzіmіr Baradach noted that it was hard to understand the goals of the action especially taking into account the fact that the results of the expertise of another blasting assembly found in the place of the celebration dated for Independence Day and the remains of the first one have not been announced yet.
Uladzіmіr Baradach: It is hard to say how professional the organizers were without this information. You can only guess the main goal of the action if you look at the blasting assembly and the detonator: it can be aimed at killing a certain person, a group of people or certain people in the crowd. There are loads of factors preventing us from making clear and professional conclusions.
ERB’s note:
Uladzіmіr Baradach is a reserve colonel, a former head of a special police troops group in Maryina Horka (1988-1991). He was a member of the Belarusian Union of Military Men at the beginning of the 1990s. He pledged allegiance to Belarus in Independence Square in Minsk on September 8, 1992.
In the photo: Uladzіmіr Baradach, the last person on the right
