Minsk - Belarusian vandals destroyed a rare monument erected
by the US in the former Soviet republic, the information company
BelaPAN reported Wednesday.
A granite bench unveiled during a 1994 visit to the Belarusian
village of Kuropaty by then-US President Bill Clinton was smashed
into fragments, said Igor Kuznetsov, a historical researcher.
The US government funded the construction of the bench to
memorialize brutal Stalinist repressions in Belarus during the 1930s
and 1940s. Kuropaty was the Soviet government's preferred execution
site for Belarusian political prisoners.
Relations between Minsk and Washington soured in subsequent years.
US State Department spokesmen have routinely accused Belarusian
President Aleksander Lukashenko of running the least democratic
nation in Europe as a private fiefdom.
For practical purposes, no other US-financed memorials exist in
Belarus.
Thieves and vandals had attacked the Clinton-era bench ten times
prior to its destruction in January. Raiders in earlier assaults tore
off metal decorations and even pried up paving stones.
A cast-iron wreath signifying the undying memory of innocent
persons murdered by the Soviet regime was stolen on December 2,
Kuznetsov said.
The Belarus police force have never charged a suspect. US
diplomats have requested, but failed to receive, a permanent guard
for the memorial.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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