New death sentence passed in Belarus
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). The other defendant in the trial, Natallia Kolb, was sentenced to 25 years in prison, the maximum a woman can get in Belarus.
The trial was held behind closed doors. The verdict is the first death sentence passed in the Brest region in 10 years.
It is also the third capital punishment handed down this year, after the sentencing of Aliaksandr Asipovich in January and of Viktar Paulau in July.
The prosecution said the murder was a “groundless act of hooliganism.”
The sentence is not final and can be appealed to the Supreme Court.
