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Albert Camus’ Reflections on the Guillotine
“The criminal is killed because he has been killed for centuries, and furthermore he is killed according to a procedure established at the end of the eighteenth century. The same arguments that have served as legal tender for centuries are perpetuated as a matter of routine, contradicted only by those measures which the evolution of public sensibility renders inevitable.” Czytaj więcej…
Homel Regional Court reconfirms death sentence for Aliaksandr Hrunou
The Homel Regional Court confirmed yesterday its death verdict to Aliaksandr Hrunou previously sentenced to capital punishment for the brutal murder of a student. This was reported by the coordinator of the campaign “Human Rights Defenders against the Death Penalty in Belarus” Andrei Paluda. Czytaj więcej…
Viasna’s Mahiliou office presents new animated film against the death penalty
Over 20 residents of Mahiliou gathered on December 21 to watch the anti-death penalty animated films “Flight”, “Queue” and the new film “Executioner” at the Kola community center. The presentation was conducted by coordinator of the campaign “Human Rights Defenders against the Death Penalty in Belarus” Andrei Paluda, who noted that the government still conceals information about death sentences and their execution. Czytaj więcej…
Aleh Alkayeu: Execution is murder
What does the executioner feel? Aleh Alkayeu, former chief of prison No. 1 in Minsk in 1996-2001, who was involved in 134 executions, tells the activists of the campaign “Human Rights Defenders against the Death Penalty in Belarus” about this. Czytaj więcej…
Supreme Court to decide how to inform journalists about executions and death sentences
Answering the question whether there will be any changes in the near future of how journalists can be informed about the imposition and execution of death sentences, Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court Valery Kalinkovich noted that this issue would be considered at the plenum of the Supreme Court. Czytaj więcej…
State-owned media disclose details about recent death convict Lykau
The Investigative Committee told the major Sovetskaya Belorussia state-run daily certain details on the murders Eduard Lykau, who was sentenced to death in late November, committed. It is noteworthy that for one of the murders an innocent man spent seven years in prison. Czytaj więcej…
Catherine Ashton calls on Belarus to join global moratorium on the death penalty
The spokesperson of Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission, issued the following statement today: "The High Representative regrets the death sentence recently handed down to an individual by the Minsk Regional Court. She hopes that his right to appeal will be fully exercised." Czytaj więcej…
Belarus hands down another death sentence (updated)
The Human Rights Center "Viasna" learned that another death verdict was pronounced in Belarus. The convict is Eduard Lykov, 53, charged with five episodes of murder while intoxicated. The sentence was handed down by the Minsk Regional Court on November 26, 2013. Lykov has been under investigation since 2011. During this time he has had three counsels. Czytaj więcej…
Only photos are left from condemned cell in Baku
In Azerbaijan, the death penalty hasn't been used since 1998 , and Bailov prison, where death convicts were kept, was destroyed in July 2009. The building where the convicts were executed can be seen only in photos, as a reminder of barbarism. Czytaj więcej…
Human rights defenders remind about the right to life on Human Rights Day
10 December is marked as Human Rights Day. On this occasion, the Barys Zvoskau Belarusian Human Rights House and the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands in Vilnius held a public discussion on the criminal justice system and the death penalty in Belarus. Czytaj więcej…
Metropolitan Filaret: "The Church is making efforts to stop the execution of death verdicts"
The head of the Belarusian Orthodox Church responded to the applicatioon of Tamara Sialiun, whose son was sentenced to capital punishment. Metropolitan Filaret stressed that the Belarusian Orthodox Church opposes the death penalty in Belarus. Czytaj więcej…
Andrei Paluda: “I choose life!”
The coordinator of the campaign "Human Rights Defenders against the death penalty in Belarus" Andrei Paluda visited Rome together with the well-known advocate of the world-wide abolition of the death penalty, Uzbek human rights activist Tamara Chikunova, to take part in the events dedicated to the problem of death penalty and human rights violations. Czytaj więcej…
Minsk: Cities for Life, cities against the Death Penalty
During the several last years actions against the death penalty have been held in Minsk within the frames of the campaign "Cities for Life, Cities against the Death Penalty" on the last day of November. Czytaj więcej…
Leanid Sudalenka: “An ignorant person can say that we are "protecting murderers.” It's not true.”
Homel lawyer Leanid Sudalenka, who prepared a complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee on behalf of death convict Aliaksandr Hrunou as part of the campaign “Human Rights Defenders against the Death Penalty in Belarus”, in an interview for the dp.spring96.org website talks about the inefficiency of the death penalty as punishment. Czytaj więcej…
Sweden: 103 years without the death penalty
On November 23, Sweden marks 103 years since the last execution of a death sentence took place. The last execution in Sweden was enforced on November 23, 1910, when Johan Alfred Ander was beheaded by guillotine, after being sentenced to death for the murder of a 24-year-old cashier during a robbery in a shop in Stockholm. Czytaj więcej…
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