Supreme Court confirms death verdict for Pavel Sialiun

The Supreme Court dismissed today an appeal against the death sentence handed down on June 12 by the Hrodna Regional Court to Pavel Sialiun, who found guilty of committing four criminal offences, including double murder, theft and desecration of corpses.

The appeal was considered by the panel of judges presided by Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court, Valery Kalinkovich.

Ahead of the consideration of the appeal, the death convict’s mother addressed the Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus Filaret with a request to ask Aliaksandr Lukashenka to pardon her son and abolish the death penalty against him. The Belarusian Orthodox Church has repeatedly opposed the death penalty in Belarus.

Pavel Sialiun will apply for clemency to the President. Simultaneously, his relatives will arrange the preparation of a complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee.

Coordinator of the campaign "Human Rights Defenders against the Death Penalty", Andrei Paluda, stressed that Belarusian human rights defenders strongly oppose the death penalty in Belarus. “There are many other alternative methods of punishment," said the expert.