Death verdict delivered in Homel
4 June
the Homel Regional Court issued a verdict in a criminal case against
a 25-year resident of Homel, accused of killing a student of the
Homel State University named after Skaryna Natallia Yemelyanchykava.
The extremely cruel murder took place on 20 September 2012, the
victim suffered 102 stab wounds. The girl died just few meters away
from her house.
The court agreed with the requirements of the
state prosecutor and sentenced the young man to death by shooting.
The verdict may still be appealed. The accused has the right to
petition for clemency.
The public prosecution demanded the
death penalty for him during the previous sitting, on 4 June. In 2005
the defendant was sentenced to 8 years of imprisonment for inflicting
grievous bodily harm resulting in death – he beat to death his
mother's cohabitant.
He killed the
girl one year after his release from jail.
"The
accused presents a high danger to the society and must be given the
hardest punishment possible," noticed the
prosecutor.
The
psychiatric examination found him mentally healthy, he
was not in a state of temporary insanity at the time of the murder.
He didn't suffer from alcohol or drugs
dependence. However, he
has a mixed personality disorder.
At
the trial the defendant admitted his
guilt completely. He
stated that around June-July 2012 he
had been in a group of
people with Natallia
Yemialyanchykava, and
she had insulted him. On 19 September
he was traveling on a bus with
his mistress and a
friend and met Natallia.
He knew where she lived, as he was acquainted
with her brother. The accused got off the bus
one stop away from the house where the victim lived and ran through
the yards. He waited until the girl came to
the entrance, and then attacked her with a knife.
On
12 June the mother of
the accused told the
journalists that if the girl who insulted his
son apologized, the tragedy could have been avoided. According to the
mother, the son defended his
dignity, and "earlier, people fought at
duels for insults, so why couldn't my son defend his dignity?".
She would like the son to be sentenced to 25
years in prison. "He
has seen no good in this life, and now they are
asking for his death. His father was murdered when he was a child and
the killers haven't been ever found.
Yes, he murdered my cohabitant but that one
was a tramp who
collected bottles, he defended his girlfriend as she had a conflict
with him," stated
the mother.
