Rights activist asks Lukashenka to say how many death sentences he commuted

Brest-based human rights defender Raman Kislyak has petitioned Alyaksandr Lukashenka to make public information about how many people sentenced to execution have been spared death by him since his election as president in 1994.

As Mr. Kislyak told BelaPAN, he says in his appeal that no official data on the matter is available to the public.

“I am against the death penalty, but I believe that a decision on whether it should be abolished should be made by Belarusian society. However, how can it make up its mind on the matter if it lacks information and does not know how many death row inmates have had their life spared and who are these people?” he wondered.

Mr. Kislyak said that he knew of at least one convict to have been spared death by Mr. Lukashenka. According to the justice ministry, 241 people were sentenced to death between 1994 and 2011.

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