death penalty
KGB: Lukashenko decides on death penalty for German
In Belarus, ruler Alexander Lukashenko has death sentences carried out by shooting people in the back of the neck. (Archive photo) Photo
© Sergey Savostyanov/Pool Sputnik Kremlin/AP/dpa
A German sentenced to death in Belarus has asked the ruler Lukashenko for clemency. The man considered to be Europe’s last dictator must now make the decision.
After the death sentence against a German in Belarus, the decision on the case lies with those in power, according to the Minsk secret service KGB Alexander Lukashenko. According to the Belarusian state news agency Belta, the investigating KGB officer Alexander Grib said that the German citizen had sent a request for clemency to the president. In accordance with the current laws, the decision now rests with Lukashenko. Grib informed media representatives about a meeting with Lukashenko investigators on the case.
The 29-year-old German was sentenced to death in June for alleged mercenary activity and terrorism on behalf of the Ukrainian secret service SBU. Belarus (formerly Belarus), which is considered a dictatorship, is the last country in Europe to carry out the internationally controversial death penalty, namely by shooting him in the back of the neck. Belarusian state television recently showed the German, a paramedic, in a video in which he pleaded guilty and asked for mercy.
The Foreign Office in Berlin condemned the death penalty and announced that the German citizen would be given consular assistance. The way the man was treated was “unbearable”. However, Berlin did not comment on information from the Belarusian Foreign Ministry that Minsk had made a negotiation proposal to resolve the case.
Lawyer hopes for pardon
The Belarusian opposition suspects that Lukashenko is demanding a high price for a pardon. Lukashenko could, for example, demand the release of a Russian convicted in Berlin for murder in Berlin’s Tiergarten on behalf of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, on whom he is politically and economically dependent.
The convicted man’s lawyer, Vladimir Gorbachev, announced after the meeting with Lukashenko that he hoped for a pardon. “I consider the conversation to be open. I assume that the president has heard the opinion of all parties that took part in the discussion. We hope that the head of state will perform an act of humanism,” said Gorbachev. Lukashenko said that he would think about the request for clemency and then decide.