Mother of executed death convict Uladzislau Kavaliou files review appeal to Supreme Court

Liubou Kavaliova demands the reversal of the death sentence according to which Uladzislau Kavaliou and Dzmitry Kanavalau were executed on charges in committing a terrorist act in the Minsk metro on 11 April 2012.

“The appeal lists the violations admitted during the investigation and the court proceeding, and I consider as necessary holding a new, fair trial of the case. I understand that after the execution the only thing I can do is to protect the good name of my son. However, I also remember that it is necessary to find the real organizers of the explosion,” she says.

The volume of the complaint is more than 50 pages. It contains enumeration of violations of the Criminal-Process Code, the motions which were not granted by the court, violations of the right to defense (when the counsel wasn’t admitted to the investigative isolator), violation of the right to appeal (when Kavaliou wasn’t allowed to meet with his counsel on the eve of the execution), etc. Many photo and video materials and freeze-frames from recordings of the surveillance cameras in the metro are attached to the appeal.

“The appeal was accepted, but the judge didn’t even look it through – he immediately put it aside. He said that it was accepted for consideration, so I will be waiting for an answer during one-month period,” said Liubou Kavaliova.

The fact that Uladzislau Kavaliou’s testimony given under pressurization and in the absence of counsel was considered during the trial is mentioned too, though physical injuries were registered on his body during the preliminary investigation. During the trial Kavaliou refused from the testimony, saying he was innocent and had to perjure himself and Dzmitry Kanavalau because physical force was used against him. Psychological pressurization was exercised too, as far as at the trial he stated that people who introduced themselves as KGB officers visited him during the preliminary investigation, but the content of their talks with him wasn’t registered in any official documents.

The appeal also mentions the fact that the court granted the majority of the accusation’s motions and dismissed the majority of the defense’s motions, which witnesses that the trial wasn’t fair and impartial.

“The motive of the crime on the part of Uladzislau Kavaliou wasn’t defined. His testimony during the preliminary investigation was obtained in violation of the criminal procedure law, and therefore can not be the basis for a conviction. While issuing the sentence to Kavaliou the court acted to the detriment of his interests and the interests of society and the state, helping to create a negative thought in the society of the entire judicial system, creating fear and hatred of the judiciary,” reads the complaint.