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Belarus is the only country in Europe where the death penalty is used. In our country, death sentences are usually executed as soon as a request for clemency is denied. The families or legal representatives of the convicts are not informed of the date of execution of the sentence and the last meeting with the convict is not guaranteed. After the execution, the body is not given to the family for burial and the place of burial is not reported. The Criminal Code of Belarus prohibits the use of the death penalty for persons who have committed crimes under the age of eighteen, women, and men over the age of sixty-five.

In the mentioned criminal cases over the past ten years, a typical person sentenced to death is a previously convicted person who committed domestic homicide while intoxicated.

2014. A history student killed his wife and her lover

Pavel Sialiun

Pavel Sialiun, a 23-year-old student of the Belarusian State University's Department of History, was shot on April 17, 2014. The Hrodna Regional Court accused him of murdering two people with extreme cruelty. Pavel killed his wife and her lover, found in the same apartment.

A murder of a student with extreme cruelty

Aliaksandr Hrunou

Another death sentence was carried out on October 22, 2014, against Homeĺ resident Aliaksandr Hrunou. The Homeĺ Regional Court sentenced him for the murder of student Natallia Yemialyanchykava, committed with extreme cruelty. He, like the others, was refused a pardon.

As Volha Hrunova, the mother of the executed man, informed human rights activists 10 years ago, she received a parcel containing Aliaksandr's belongings — the clothes he wore in the execution cell in pre-trial detention center-1, which was previously located on Valadarskaha street in Minsk. That was how she found out that her son had been shot.

Three prisoners played dominoes with their lives at stake. The loser was strangled

Ryhor Yuzepchuk

In April 2014, the death sentence was carried out against 45-year-old Ryhor Yuzepchuk. The decision was made by the Mahilioŭ Regional Court. Ryhor was accused of murdering a cellmate. He had been tried seven times. The last sentence — 25 years — Yuzepchuk received for the double murder of a woman and a drinking companion "on the grounds of jealousy."

Yuzepchuk committed the last murder together with his cellmate. All three decided to play dominoes with their lives at stake. The loser was strangled.

Nine years have passed between the first murder and the arrest

Eduard Lykau

53-year-old Eduard Lykau was sentenced to death on five counts of murder under the influence of alcohol. Nine years have passed from the moment of the first murder to the detention of Eduard.

In November 2013, the Minsk Regional Court handed down a death sentence.

2015. The corpse of a young woman was found in the morning by a guard

Siarhei Ivanou

In Rečyca, on March 18, 2015, previously convicted Siarhei Ivanou, 21 years old, who in August 2013 raped and brutally murdered a 19-year-old girl, was sentenced to death. The woman's corpse was found in the morning by a guard near the House of Youth Creativity in Rečyca.

On July 14, 2015, the Supreme Court rejected Siarhei Ivanou's appeal and upheld the death sentence. Later it became known that Ivanou was shot on the night of April 17–18, 2016.

An orphanage resident killed three saleswomen

Ivan Kulesha

Ivan Kulesh, a 28-year-old orphanage resident, was sentenced to death on November 20, 2015, in the Hrodna Regional Court. The man was found guilty of three murders of saleswomen, theft, robbery, and attempted murder. On March 29, 2016, the Supreme Court heard Kulesh's appeal but upheld the verdict.

Ivan Kulesh was shot in November 2016.

2016. In the USSR, capital punishment was replaced by a penal colony. In independent Belarus, the convict was shot

Henadz Yakavitski

In early 2016, on January 5, the Minsk Regional Court handed down a death sentence to Henadz Yakavitski, a resident of Viliejka, for the murder of his partner with extreme cruelty (Part 2 of Article 139 of the Criminal Code). In Soviet times, Henadz was sentenced to the death penalty for murder. But after an appeal to the Supreme Court, his sentence was commuted to 15 years in prison. In the USSR, there was no "life imprisonment". On April 8, 2016, the Board of the Supreme Court did not accept Yakavitski's appeal and upheld the death sentence.

Killed a man and his partner and burned down the house to hide the crime

Siarhei Khmialeuski

The second death sentence in the same year was handed down on February 15 to a resident of Mačuliščy, 31-year-old Siarhei Khmialeuski. On May 6, the Supreme Court heard Khmialeuski's appeal but left the verdict unchanged.

When extinguishing a fire near Minsk in a private house, emergency workers found the burned bodies of a 49-year-old local resident and his 48-year-old partner. Numerous stab wounds to the neck and head were found on the bodies of the victims. The investigators concluded that the house was set on fire to conceal the traces of the crime. Leaving the house, Khmialeuski met his 57-year-old neighbor. In order not to leave a witness to the murder, Siarhei threw the neighbor into a 2-meter concrete pit.

Offered colleagues a ride to work, after which he raped and killed them

Siarhei Vostrykau

On May 19, 2016, the Homeĺ Regional Court sentenced 33-year-old Siarhei Vostrykau to death. The Homeĺ resident was accused of raping and murdering two young women.

According to the investigation, Vostrykau offered his colleagues a ride to work, and he drove the women to the garage, raped and killed them. He took the bodies of his victims into a forest and buried them.

On October 4, 2016, the Supreme Court, as a result of the hearing of the appeal, upheld Vostrykau's sentence. He was shot in April 2017.

Killed his daughter and son and jumped from the balcony

Kiryl Kazachak

Kiryl Kazachak, a 39-year-old resident of Mazyr, was found guilty of murdering his children on December 28, 2016, and sentenced to death by firing squad.

Kazachak, intoxicated, killed 9-year-old Kira and 17-year-old Vlad in January 2016. Then he arrived at his wife's rented apartment and told her about what he had done. Then he called the police and jumped off the balcony, but remained alive.

The appeal in the case was supposed to be heard on March 21, 2017, but Kiryl himself declined to have the appeal heard. The man was shot at the end of October 2017.

Three people were shot at once in one day

As it became known to human rights activists, on November 5, 2016, three people sentenced to death were shot on the same day: Henadz Yakavitski, Ivan Kulesh, and Siarhei Khmialeuski.

2017. The murder of an elderly brother and sister in Naroŭlia

The first death sentence in 2017 was handed down by the Homeĺ Regional Court in a visiting session in Naroŭlia on March 17 to 32-year-old local resident Aliaksei Mikhalenia. He was accused of the murder with extreme cruelty of his elderly brother and sister who lived together in a private house in Naroŭlia. Aliaksei Mikhalenia was shot on the night of May 15–16, 2018.

The Black Realtors case

The trial in the Black Realtors case

A criminal gang of three people from 2009 to 2015 engaged in real estate scams and killing owners. According to the investigation, the gang was involved in the murder of six people. The procedure for selling apartments was almost completely legal. Further, "black realtors" under various pretexts lured victims to deserted places where they were killed.

The group consisted of four people: 36-year-old Ihar Hershankou, 31-year-old Siamion Berazhnou, Hershankou's wife Tatsiana, and 22-year-old Barys Kalesnikau.

On July 21, 2017, the Mahilioŭ Regional Court sentenced Ihar Hershankou and Siamion Berazhnou to execution, Tatsiana Hershankova to 24 years in prison, and Barys Kalesnikau to 22 years and 1 month in a high-security penal colony. In December of the same year, the Supreme Court heard the appeals of Hershankou and Berazhnou and upheld the verdict.

Siamion Berazhnou and Ihar Hershankou were shot on the night of November 19–20, 2018. On November 28, Hershankou's mother visited pre-trial detention center No. 1, where she was informed that "Ihar Hershankou had left the pre-trial detention center with his belongings."

The murder of a prisoner in the industrial zone of the Hlybokaje penal colony

On September 22, the Viciebsk Regional Court sentenced Viktar Liotau to death for inflicting at least 60 fatal wounds to another prisoner. At the time of the murder, Liotau was already serving a sentence for previously committed murders. Viktar Liotau was shot on the night of May 15–16, 2018.

2018. The life sentence was changed to execution. The double murder of a young couple in Minsk

Aliaksandr Zhylnikau and Viachaslau Sukharko

In December 2015, a young man and his girlfriend were killed in their apartment. The man's former partner, kindergarten teacher Alina Shulhanava, was jealous of his new girlfriend and decided to take revenge. The perpetrators of the murder, instead of intimidating the couple, killed them. Immediately after the arrest, the names of the perpetrators of the crime became known — Aliaksandr Zhylnikau and Viachaslau Sukharko.

The court sentenced Sukharko and Zhylnikau to life imprisonment, and Shulhanava to 12 years in a penal colony. Later, the Supreme Court found the sentence too lenient. On January 20, 2018, the Minsk City Court sentenced Sukharko and Zhylnikau to death, while Shulhanava's sentence remained unchanged — 12 years of imprisonment.

On May 29, 2018, the Supreme Court heard the appeal of Aliaksandr Zhylnikau but left the death sentence unchanged.

2019. She called the police but gave the wrong address. A Babrujsk resident killed two young women in the bathroom

Aliaksandr Asipovich

On January 9, 2019, the Mahilioŭ Regional Court sentenced Aliaksandr Asipovich to death for a double murder with extreme cruelty.

On July 20, 2018, the bodies of two young women were found in the apartment where Asipovich spent his time.

It was found out at the trial that on the day of the murder, at seven in the morning, a young woman called the police. She screamed and asked for help but she gave the wrong address.

On May 14, 2019, the Supreme Court heard Asipovich's appeal, but the verdict was left unchanged. Aliaksandr Asipovich was shot on December 17, 2019.

Killed two retired sisters with a stick to rob their house

Viktar Paulau

In the winter of 2018, Viktar Paulau decided to rob a house in the village of Prysušyn, Viciebsk region. He attacked two sisters aged 77 and 79 and began beating them with a wooden stick. They died from their injuries.

On July 30, 2019, the Viciebsk Regional Court sentenced 50-year-old Viktar Paulau to death for murder and theft. On November 12, 2019, the Supreme Court dismissed Paulau's appeal. Viktar Paulau was shot on May 13, 2021.

For the brutal murder of her child, the mother was sentenced to 25 years in a penal colony, and her partner was shot

Natallia Kolb and Viktar Serhil

On October 25, 2019, 26-year-old Natallia Kolb and her partner, 48-year-old Viktar Serhil, were convicted in the Brest Regional Court. They were accused of a group murder with extreme cruelty of Natallia's eight-month-old daughter. Natalia was sentenced to 25 years in a penal colony, and Viktar was sentenced to death.

In the fall of 2018, Natallia's husband Leanid returned home and found his daughter's corpse. At that time, Natallia and Viktar, very drunk, were in the same apartment.

On January 31, 2020, the Supreme Court heard Viktar's appeal but left the verdict unchanged.

2020. A rare overturned death sentence. The case of the Kostseu Brothers and the Sluck Gang

The murder of a teacher in Čerykau

Illia and Stanislau Kostseu

Two brothers from Čerykau, Illia and Stanislau Kostseu, came home to their 47-year-old teacher, who lived in the house next to them, on April 10, 2019. There used to be a conflict between the men and the woman. As the security forces later reported, the woman told law enforcement that the brothers' sister was not properly fulfilling her parental duties. Because of this, the family was registered as one in a socially dangerous situation.

The men killed the teacher and set her house on fire. After extinguishing the fire, the body of the woman with multiple stab wounds was found in the house.

On January 10, 2020, the Mahilioŭ Regional Court sentenced Illia and Stanislau Kostseu to death for murder and arson of a house.

On May 22, 2020, the Supreme Court did not satisfy the appeal of the Kostseu brothers.

A senior citizen was killed for money, the house was burned down. The Sluck Gang

Viktar Skrundzik, Vital Miatsezh, and Valiantsin Bushnin

In 2019, three young residents of Sluck, intoxicated, robbed senior citizens, after which the latter were killed and burned alive. The participants of the Sluck gang are 29-year-old Viktor Skrundzik, 25-year-old Vital Miatsezh, and 33-year-old Valiantsin Bushnin.

In January 2019, they brutally killed two villagers — 79-year-old Mikhail Shuhalei and 94-year-old Uladzimir Harkavy. The senior citizens were strangled with a cable and rope, after which they were burned. Money and alcohol were stolen from both of them.

On March 6, 2020, the Minsk Regional Court sentenced Viktar Skrundzik to death; Vital Miatsezh, to 22 years in a medium security penal colony; Valiantsin Bushnin, to 18 years in a medium security penal colony.

On June 30, 2020, the Supreme Court granted the appeal and overturned the death sentence of the Minsk Regional Court.

2021. The Kostseu brothers were pardoned. A member of the Sluck gang was sentenced to death for the second time

Viktar Skrundzik, whose sentence was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2020, was again sentenced to death in the Minsk Regional Court on January 15, 2021. It was the first death sentence to be imposed in 2021. On the fourth of May, the Supreme Court did not satisfy Skrundzik's appeal and upheld the verdict.

Viktar Skrundzik was shot on July 16, 2022. The sentence was executed one year and one and a half months after the court decision.

The Kostseu brothers were transferred to the Žodzina prison, and the death penalty was commuted to life imprisonment.

As human rights activists know, this is the second case of pardon in the entire history of independent Belarus. 

2023. Parents killed their three-year-old child

Anastasiya and Aliaksandr Taratuta

In early 2023, two parents from Sluck, intoxicated, beat their three-year-old son with extreme cruelty. As a result, the child died. The beating took place in the presence of three other young children.

The Minsk Regional Court, in a visiting session on October 19, 2023, sentenced Aliaksandr Taratuta to death, and Anastasiya Taratuta was sentenced to 25 years in a high-security penal colony and compulsory treatment for alcoholism.

Anastasiya's former cellmate told human rights activists that the woman was shocked with a live wire so that she would confess.

2024. An atypical case of Rick Krieger. Death penalty for an employee of the German Red Cross

Rico Krieger

On June 29, a 29-year-old German citizen, Rico Krieger, was sentenced to death in the Minsk Regional Court. He was charged on six serious criminal counts, including "mercenary activity", "act of terrorism", and "agent activity". It was for an "act of terrorism" that he was sentenced to death.

Rico Krieger is a military doctor. He was accused of "committing an explosion." Rico's case is related to Kalinoŭski Regiment.

Almost nothing was known about this case. Official agencies did not report on Rico's detention or the results of his trial.

On July 30, it became known that Rico had applied for pardon to Aliaksandr Lukashenka. The latter, in turn, convened a meeting on this issue with "people directly involved in handling the case." On the evening of July 30, as propagandists write, Lukashenka decided to pardon Krieger.

Already in early August, Rico Krieger was returned to Germany as part of a prisoner exchange that took place between the United States, Russia, Germany, and Belarus.