Two new death verdicts handed down in Mahilioŭ
The Mahilioŭ Regional Court completed today the hearing of a headline-making case of ‘black estate agents’, sentencing two defendants, Ihar Hershankou and Siamion Berazhnou, to death and two more, Tatsiana Hershankova and Barys Kalesnikau, to lengthy prison terms.
Between 2009 and 2015, the criminal group was reportedly engaged in real estate fraud, murdering six owners of apartments.
The trial began in November 2016.
The four defendants faced charges under several articles of the Criminal Code, including murder, kidnapping, fraud, robbery, extortion, theft, destruction and falsification of documents. Hershankou and his wife were further charged with drug trafficking.
One person, Siarhei Vostrykau, has been executed in Belarus in 2017. Two more men, Kiryl Kazachok and Aliaksei Mikhalenia, are currently on death row awaiting execution.
