Capitally convicted person pleas for mercy
On 16 October the lawyer of Vasil Yuzepchuk, sentenced to death penalty for alleged murder of six elderly women, has lodged an appeal for pardon with President Lukashenka. The convict asks to spare his life, due to possible future circumstances that may prove his innocence. In case the verdict is executed, and such circumstances are established, is will not be able to be corrected.
Belarusian human rights activists have expressed their concern over the upcoming execution.
‘We do hope for an objective and unbiased consideration of the case, since the supreme value of human life is at stake. We hope the Board for Pardons will make effective steps towards the abolition of the death penalty in Belarus, and a positive decision in the case of Vasil Yuzepchuk may be their first move’, says Uladzimir Labkovich, lawyer of the Human Rights Center Viasna.
