Russian citizen sentenced to death in UAE, awaiting extradition in Belarus

Pyotr Ivanik, a Russian national, who has been sentenced to death in the United Arab Emirates, is currently awaiting extradition in jail No. 1 in Minsk, according to representatives of the campaign "Human Rights Defenders against the Death Penalty in Belarus”.

In December 2011, the Islamic Court of the Emirate of Sharjah found Pyotr Ivanik, along with Alexey Yanchuk, guilty of murdering their business partner from Chelyabinsk Yauhen Khoprov. The crime was committed in 2009 in the United Arab Emirates. The sentence was handed down in absentia, since both defendants were on the wanted list.

For a long time, their whereabouts remained unknown. Later it was reported that Yanchuk had received a residence permit in Germany, while Ivanik has been recently found in jail in Belarus.

First Secretary of the Consulate of the Russian Federation in Belarus, Denis Nechay, confirmed in a telephone conversation with the campaign’s coordinator Andrei Paluda that Pyotr Ivanik is currently being held in jail. He also said that the convict’s relatives had contacted the consulate for assistance.

If Pyotr Ivanik is extradited to the United Arab Emirates, he will be executed, because the country has no moratorium on the death penalty.