30.01.2016 Italy
The main user of the capital punishment in the history of Italy was the Holy Inquisition, although formally the ecclesiastical court did not execute people, but was authorized by Pope Innocent IV (1252) only to torture during the investigation. The Church was to use every effort to return the heretic to the Church; if he persisted, or if his conversion was feigned – at first the verdict was a simple condemnation for heresy and was accompanied by excommunication or declaration that the defendant was no longer under the jurisdiction of the Church and was passed to the temporal authorities. Over time, the sentences for the transmission to the secular authorities started being accompanied with the words “debita animadversione puniendum”, “shall be punished according to merit”.
30.01.2016 You can help
Regardless of what you are, a media editor, lawyer, school teacher or university lecturer, student or office clerk, irrespective of your employment or social status, you can help us in our efforts to change the social attitude and achieve the introduction of a moratorium on the death penalty.
30.01.2016 Minsk court ends ‘graffiti case’ trial with lenient sentence
Judge Ala Skuratovich of Minsk’s Frunzienski District Court announced yesterday evening her verdict in so called ‘graffiti case’ trial, sentencing the three defendants to fines ranging from 6.3 to 10.5 mln rubles (USD 300-500).
29.01.2016 Arrest of Ales Bialiatski’s property cancelled
On January 28, Viasna leader Ales Bialiatski received a letter from the department of compulsory execution of Minsk’s Partyzanski district in response to his appeal against a decision to arrest part of his Minsk apartment where he lives with his family.
29.01.2016 Freelance journalist Kanstantsin Zhukouski faces fresh charges
Kanstantsin Zhukouski, a freelance journalist in Homieĺ, has received a phone call from an employee of the Vietka district police department who said that the journalist faced administrative charges and was invited to testify in the case. However, Mr. Zhukouski refused to come saying that he saw no reason to give evidence, as his case was politically motivated.
29.01.2016 Human rights activists meet with OSCE ODIHR Director Michael Georg Link
Representatives of the political opposition and the campaign “Human Rights Defenders For Free Elections” have met today with Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), to discuss the overall situation in Belarus following the October 2015 presidential election.
28.01.2016 Concerted position by Belarusian human rights organisations on priorities in shaping the strategy of international partners' relations with Belarus
We regard further improvement of the human rights situation as a top priority for both Belarusian human rights defenders and international partners in shaping the strategy for relations with Belarus.
28.01.2016 Human Rights Watch World Report 2016: “Overall human rights situation in Belarus in 2015 did not improve”
“President Aliaksander Lukashenka released on humanitarian grounds six opposition figures who had been imprisoned on politically motivated charges, but the overall human rights situation in Belarus in 2015 did not improve,” said Human Rights Watch in its annual World Report 2016.
28.01.2016 OSCE Representative condemns police violence against journalist in Belarus
VIENNA, 27 January 2016 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today condemned an attack against a journalist by police officers in Belarus, and called on the authorities to ensure journalists’ safety.
28.01.2016 Man in Ivacevičy complains about police-related violence
Siarhei Dyliuk, 57, has been reportedly beaten by police officers during interrogation at the Ivacevičy department of internal affairs on January 23. According to him, he was forced to sign a confession to stealing his neighbor’s TV tuner, as he feared the police officers could kill him.
27.01.2016 BAJ Demands Criminal Investigation into the Fact of Beating a Journalist
On January 26, the Board of BAJ made a statement concerning yesterday’s beating of Pavel Dabravolski, journalist of TUT.by, in the building of Frunzenski district court of Minsk.
26.01.2016 Amnesty International asks to commute death sentence handed down to Henadz Yakavitski
President Lukashenka should "halt any planned executions and immediately commute the death sentence handed down to Gennadii Yakovitskii (Henadz Yakavitski) and all others sentenced to death in Belarus", says an urgent action press-release by Amnesty International of January 25.
26.01.2016 Death convict escapes extradition to UAE, released from jail in Belarus
Pyotr Ivanik, a Russian national sentenced to death in the United Arab Emirates for having ordered the murder of his business partner back in 2011, has been released from jail No. 1 in Minsk, according to Aleh Khlyshchenka, head of the international legal department of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Belarus.
25.01.2016 Pavel Sevyarynets stands trial in absentia
Minsk Maksouski District Court has punished Pavel Sevyarynets for the action held on November 24, 2015. The trial was held on January 19. The opposition politician got to know about it by accident and too late. The sentence was pronounced in his absence, he believes.
25.01.2016 KGB Suspends Criminal Case against Alesin
The Committee for State Security (KGB) informed Aliaksandr Alesin last week, the prosecution against the journalist had been suspended.
