News on the topic: death penalty
01.03.2019 Brussels: side-event "Why death penalty continues to be applied in Belarus?"
On February 28, a side event dedicated to Belarus took place at the World Congress against the Death Penalty.
26.02.2019 Belarus' delegation to visit the World Congress against Death Penalty
From February 26 to March 1 Brussels with host the World Congress Against the Death Penalty - the world’s leading abolitionist event in terms of its scope and political ambition.
25.01.2019 Death penalty: human rights defenders' retrospective and aspirations
At the end of January, the campaign "Human rights defenders against the death penalty" marks its 10th anniversary. Viasna asked the campaign activists about how one of the most notorious human rights campaigns in Belarus has been established, what difficulties it encountered and how such activity is perceived in society.
14.01.2019 EU and COE call on moratorium on death penalty in Belarus
Spokespersons of the European Union and the Council of Europe condemn the latest death sentence pronounced in Belarus
09.01.2019 Man sentenced to death in Babrujsk
The Mahilioŭ Regional Court has sentenced a man to death, finding him guilty of killing two women in late July. The verdict was pronounced after a series of visiting hearings held in Babrujsk.
29.12.2018 UN HRC registers complaint of Belarusian death row prisoner
On December 24, the United Nations Human Rights Committee has registered the individual communication of death convict Aliaksandr Zhylnikau, according to the prisoner’s lawyer who visited him on December 27.
20.12.2018 Amnesty International: Two known prisoners on death row in Belarus at risk of imminent execution
"There is grave concern that the only two known prisoners on death row in Belarus, Aliaksandr Zhylnikau and Viachaslau Sukharko, are at risk of imminent execution," Amnesty International said.
13.12.2018 UN human rights experts condemn Belarus executions
GENEVA (12 December 2018) — UN human rights experts condemned Belarus for its continued use of the death penalty, following local news reports that the country, in defiance of the Human Rights Committee’s requests for a stay, had executed three people: Aleksei Mikhalenya, Semyon Berezhnoi and Igor Gershankov.
11.12.2018 Campaigners against the death penalty win national human rights prize
Belarusian human rights defenders marked the International Human Rights Day by awarding the 10th annual National Human Rights Prize. The ceremony was hosted by the newly opened education space “Territory of Rights.”
06.12.2018 Belarus: Amnesty International condemns execution of two more prisoners
Last week, the families of Siamion Berazhnoy and Ihar Hershankou confirmed to the Belarusian civil society organisation Human Rights Centre Viasna that they have been officially informed of the executions. Also according to information from Viasna the men were likely executed on the night of 19-20 November.
29.11.2018 EU, CoE, PACE, Amnesty International condemn executions in Belarus
Brussels and Strasbourg have released official comments on the recent execution of two death row prisoners in Belarus, Siamion Berazhnoy and Ihar Hershankou.
28.11.2018 Belarus executes two more prisoners
Death row prisoners Siamion Berazhnoy and Ihar Hershankou have been executed by shooting, according to information received from the prisoners' families.
06.11.2018 Swiss abolitionists ask Lukashenka to spare lives of death row prisoners in Belarus
L’ACAT-Suisse, a Switzerland-based human rights organization working to end torture and capital punishment, has sent a petition to President Lukashenka, asking him to commute the death sentences handed down to Aliaksandr Zhylnikau and Viachaslau Sukharko.
12.10.2018 Week against the Death Penalty: We do not celebrate, we express solidarity
The fifth annual Week against the Death Penalty concluded on October 12, World Day against the Death Penalty, with an artistic event at the Lithuanian embassy in Minsk, which told about the pain suffered by the families of death convicts.
11.10.2018 Viasna again calls to halt executions at PACE event on World Day against the Death Penalty
On October 10, the issue of ongoing executions in Belarus was discussed at a meeting of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly pf the Council of Europe. The event was scheduled to mark the World Day against the Death Penalty. The discussion involved Valery Varanetski, chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, and deputy chairperson of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” Valiantsin Stefanovich.
