Amnesty International: Aliaksei Mikhalenya at risk of imminent execution

Aliaksei Mikhalenya was sentenced to death by the Homel Regional Court, in southeast Belarus, on 17 March. His sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court on 30 June and he is now at risk of imminent execution.

Aliaksei Mikhalenya (Aliaksei Mikhalenia) was sentenced to death by the Homel Regional Court, in southeast Belarus, on 17 March 2017. He was found guilty of two murders in March 2016. He was arrested shortly after and filed a full confession.

On 30 June, the Supreme Court denied Aliaksei Mikhalenya’s appeal and upheld his death sentence. Aliaksei Mikhalenya was later transferred to the pre-trial detention centre (SIZO) #1 in Minsk where death row inmates are kept and death sentences are believed to be executed. He is at risk of imminent execution.

In Belarus no warning is given of the date or time of execution and no final meeting with relatives in granted. Death row inmates are executed with a shot to the back of the head. In accordance with Belarusian law, their bodies are not returned to their families for burial, nor is the location of the burial site disclosed.

Belarus is the only country in Europe and Central Asia which continues to use the death penalty. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception. It violates the right to life, as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.

Please write immediately in Belarussian, Russian or your own language:
 Urging President Alyaksandr Lukashenka to commute the death sentence of Aliaksei Mikhalenya and all those on death row in Belarus;
 Calling on the President to establish an immediate moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty;
 Stress that whilst we are not seeking to downplay the seriousness of the crime, research shows that the death penalty does not deter crime more than imprisonment, and is the ultimate denial of human rights.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 24 AUGUST 2017 TO:
President Alyaksandr Lukashenka
Vul. Karla Marksa 38
220016 Minsk, Belarus
Fax: +375 17 226 06 10
+375 17 222 38 72
Email: contact@president.gov.by
Salutation: Dear President Lukashenka

And copies to:
Human Rights Centre Vyasna
Vul. Merzhinkovo, 8-26
220012, Minsk, Belarus
Email: viasna@spring96.org