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Suspects in Lukashenko assassination plot plead guilty, reveal details of conspiracy

On April 17, Lukashenko announced that the trio planned an assassination of him and his family

MINSK, April 28. /TASS/. The suspects, charged with preparation of a coup in Belarus and assassination of President Alexandre Lukashenko, acknowledged their conspiracy. They said it in the documentary titled "To kill the president," aired on Belarusian TV Wednesday.

"We had three goals to achieve. The first one was elimination of the country’s direct leadership, by internment or physical elimination. The second goal was blocking of units that could put up resistance. The third goal was to capture symbolic objects of the city," says lawyer Yury Zenkovich, one of the suspects.

"I plead guilty of effectively being used as a technical organizer," he said. The BNF political party leader Grigory Kostusev also pleaded guilty of "allowing such people to pull [him] into this kind of talk."

"It was a crime for me already that I was pulled into this talk [about the coup]," Kostusev said.

Political researcher Alexander Feduta disclosed that the question of capturing of a number of state structures was indeed discussed.

"First and foremost, the media, certain communications nodes, and possibly, a temporary shutdown of the Internet. I plead guilty of taking part in the conspiracy," Feduta said.

On April 17, Lukashenko announced that the trio planned an assassination of himself and his family. He pinned the responsibility on US intelligence services and leadership. According to Belarusian investigators, the coup attempt was funded from abroad, and the conspirators stayed in close contact with terror groups. The conspirators developed no less than three different plans to seize the power. Belarusian State Security Committee (KGB) charged four people of conspiracy to seize power in an unconstitutional way. The Committee disclosed that all suspects testify and cooperate with the investigation. The KGB has not disclosed the name of the fourth suspect so far.