V. Vegera: Antiterrorism system set up in Belarus helped detect terrorist attack in Minsk metro

First Deputy Chairman of the State Security Committee Viktor Vegera said that it was the antiterrorism system set up in Belarus which helped detect terrorist attack in Minsk metro. “Prompt clearance of the crime is the result of two components. The first one is the establishment of the antiterrorist system in Belarus. This system was improved after 2008, when there was an explosion near the stela (stela Minsk – Hero City, ref. Soyuz.by). Second – the extensive experience our specialists have in the area of explosive devices and others,” said V. Vegera.

First Deputy Chairman of the State Security Committee Viktor Vegera said that it was the antiterrorism system set up in Belarus which helped detect terrorist attack in Minsk metro. “Prompt clearance of the crime is the result of two components. The first one is the establishment of the antiterrorist system in Belarus. This system was improved after 2008, when there was an explosion near the stela (stela Minsk – Hero City, ref. Soyuz.by). Second – the extensive experience our specialists have in the area of explosive devices and others,” said V. Vegera.

According to V. Vegera, Operational Headquarters was set up from the first moments of the tragedy. It included representatives of the State Security Committee, Ministry of Internal Affairs, public prosecutor's office and other agencies. At the headquarters all incoming information was analyzed which helped to take decisions and coordinate action. V. Vegera stressed that the population also showed civil consciousness: “From the first minutes after the explosion the SSC started to receive calls with information”. Some of the information, as he said, proved to be false or misleading, but all of it was quickly processed and checked.

Revealing details of the arrest, V. Vegera noted that it was the video analysis system which helped identify D. Konovalov. This system is similar to the one that was used during the investigation of the terrorist attack in London underground: “All suspicious individuals were monitored 24/7. When D. Konovalov came in sight as one of the suspects, we noticed that he entered the metro with a bag but went out without one”.

“Analysis of the 10^th (April 10^th, ref. Soyuz.by) made it possible to note that this person entered and left the metro at the station “Frunzenskaya”. We attached ourselves to “Frunzenskaya”. And then we conducted a variety of activities that made it possible to single out the block Korolya – Sukhaya – Romanovskaya Sloboda – Nemiga – there we concentrated our efforts,” said V. Vegera.