The Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence handed down to Viktar Paulau on July 30. The defendant was found guilty of double murder committed in December 2018. Read more…
Titus Corlatean (Romania, SOC), General Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the abolition of the death penalty, has denounced a judgment of the Brest Regional Court (Belarus) of 25 October sentencing to death Viktar Serhil in a trial concerning the murder of an eight-month-old girl. Read more…
“A moratorium on executions in Belarus would be a positive first step towards the abolition of the death penalty in the country,” a statement by Maja Kocijancic, European Union Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, said in response to the death sentence handed down by the Brest Regional Court. Read more…
On October 25, the Brest Regional Court sentenced Viktar Serhil, 48, to death, finding him guilty of brutally murdering a minor (Part 2, Art. 139 of the Criminal Code). Read more…
40th FIDH Congress - RESOLUTION ABOUT THE DEATH PENALTY IN THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS Read more…
The past seven days have been dominated by events held as part of the annual nation-wide Week against the Death Penalty in Belarus. Viasna has collected quotes and photo evidence of the Week to highlight the diversity of voices and efforts demanding an end to executions, both in the country and worldwide. Read more…
The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, have published a joint statement to mark the European and World Day against the Death Penalty on 10 October. Read more…
The annual Week against the Death Penalty will be held from 5 to 10 October across Belarus to promote this year’s slogan “Justice without Killing.” Read more…
Council of Europe’s Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law has launched a campaign #DeathIsNotJustice in the run-up to October 10th, the World Day against Death Penalty. Famous figures and human rights activists share messages to stress the need for the abolition of capital punishment worldwide. Read more…
From 5 to 10 October, various locations across Belarus will host the seventh annual Week Against the Death Penalty, the main slogan of which will be “Justice Without Killing.” Andrei Paluda, coordinator of the campaign “Human Rights Defenders against the Death Penalty in Belarus” and organizer of the Week, has shared his plans for this year’s events, calling on everyone to join the activities of the annual outreach initiative. Read more…
The European Union and the Council of Europe have condemned the death sentence pronounced yesterday in Viciebsk. Read more…
The Viciebsk Regional Court has sentenced Viktar Paulau, 50, to death finding him guilty of double murder committed in December 2018. Read more…
Belarus is the only country in Europe and among post-Soviet states that stills executes people. The people here are killed by shooting in the back of the head. Despite the widely recognized fact that the death penalty does not work as a deterrent and is an apparent vestige of the Middle Ages, the conveyor of death continues to operate, while the veil of secrecy and the inhuman treatment to the families of death row prisoners are reminiscent of the Stalin-era repression. Read more…
Belarus must halt the executions of individuals who have submitted complaints to the Human Rights Committee, UN human rights experts said today upon being informed about the execution of Aleksandr Zhilnikov whose case is being examined by the Committee. Read more…
On June 30, Maladziečna hosted the premiere screening of a documentary entitled “We are against the death penalty” filmed to mark 10 years since the launch of “Human Rights Defenders against the Death Penalty in Belarus”, a nation-wide campaign fighting to end executions in Belarus. Read more…