Council of Europe Secretary General calls Belarus to adopt an immediate moratorium on executions
‘I am deeply disappointed and concerned by the decision taken on Friday by the Supreme Court of Belarus to confirm yet another death sentence in the country,’ said Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland.
‘I note the growing debate on abolition of the death
penalty in Belarus,
but talk is not enough to pave the way to a moratorium. There is now a need for
a genuine political will to turn words into action. Capital punishment has no
place in the penal systems of modern societies,’ said Mr Jagland.
Bear in mind that introduction of a moratorium on the death penalty is one of
the main conditions for returning to Belarus its special guest status at the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
On 11 February the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus
considered the cassation complaint of Ihar Mialik, a figurant of the criminal
case concerning gangsterism and murders at the highway Mahiliou-Homel. The
death verdict issued by the Mahiliou
Region Court on 14 September 2010 was left
standing.
Another participant of the gang, Aliaksandr Sychou, got a life sentence. The
head of the gang, the founder of the Belarusian Republican Association of
Jujutsu and Self-defense Aliaksandr Kozyrau, died in the pre-trial prison and didn’t
stand trial.
According to the investigation, these people robbed owners of expensive cars,
who relaxed on the road side. They were interested in cars with foreign number
plates. Those who resisted to these criminal actions were shot. According to
the case materials, four people were killed. Cars and other belongings of the victims
were sold.
