News on the topic: death penalty
22.07.2011 Dead or alive? (updated)
Have the death sentences to Aleh Hryshkautsou and Andrei Burdyka been executed or not? This is the question incited by numerous reports quoting a publication in the state-owned “Vecherniy Grodno” newspaper of 20 July.
21.07.2011 Two more death convicts executed in Belarus
Hronda residents Aleh Hryshkavets and Andrei Burdyka sentenced to death for alleged triple murder have been executed, the state-owned Vecherniy Grodno newspaper reports.
30.06.2011 HR defenders release documentary on death penalty (video)
On 29 June, Minsk “Ў” gallery hosted the presentation of a documentary entitled “The cause of death is -------”, created as part of the “Human Rights Defenders against the Death Penalty” civil campaign.
15.04.2011 Parliaemntary Assembly of the Council of Europe urges US, Japan and Belarus to abolish the death penalty
On 14 April the Assembly today urged the US and Japan, as observer states to the Council of Europe, and Belarus, which aspires to membership, to join the growing consensus among democratic countries that protect human rights and human dignity by abolishing the death penalty. In a resolution based on a report by Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD), PACE said: “The European experience has shown conclusively that the death penalty is not needed to check violent crime, and that political leaders who led the way towards abolition did not suffer any backlash from public opinion.”
25.02.2011 President Lukashenka dismisses petition for pardon by two death convicts
President Lukashenka has dismissed the petition for pardon by Andrei Burdyka and Aleh Hryshkautsou, said deputy chair of Hrodna Regional Prosecutor’s Office Mrs. Sviatlana Rakhman in an ONT TV channel program “Nonclassified Materials” on 22 February.
15.02.2011 Council of Europe Secretary General calls Belarus to adopt an immediate moratorium on executions
‘I am deeply disappointed and concerned by the decision taken on Friday by the Supreme Court of Belarus to confirm yet another death sentence in the country,’ said Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland.
11.02.2011 Supreme Court leaves standing death verdict to jujutsu master Mialik
10 February the college board of the Supreme Court of Belarus, headed by the Deputy Chairperson of the Supreme Court Valery Kalinkovich considered the cassation appeal of a death convict, Homel resident Ihar Mialik.
17.12.2010 Death convict calls upon President Lukashenka to suspend execution
Aleh Hryshkautsou, sentenced to death on 14 May 2010, has addressed President Lukashenka with a request to suspend executing the sentence until his case is considered by the UN human Rights Committee.
16.12.2010 Death convict Hryshkautsou complains to the UN HR Committee
On 6 December the UN Human Rights Committee received an individual communication by Aleh Hryshkautsou, sentenced to death on 14 May 2010. The death convict argues that his right to fair trial provided by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights was abused by the Belarusian judiciary. The communication also demands to apply measures of interim protection and suspend the execution.
14.12.2010 Sviatlana Zhuk continues struggling for the right to know the place of burial of her son
On 13 December the Minsk City Court considered the cassation appeal of the mother of the executed convict Andrei Zhuk against the verdict of the Leninski District Court of Minsk concerning the refusal to bring an administrative case against the inaction of the MIA Punishment Execution Department that had refused to issue to her the body of the executed son or inform her about the place of his burial.
01.12.2010 Bishkek: Cities for Life/Cities Against The Death Penalty
On 30 November the Chairperson of the Human Rights Center Viasna, vice-president of the International Federation for Human Rights Ales Bialiatski took part in the action Cities For Life/Cities Against The Death Penalty in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek.
01.12.2010 Cities For Life/Cities Against The Death Penalty action held in Minsk for the first time
Activists of the campaign Human Rights Defenders Against Death Penalty and representatives of the Human Rights Center Viasna held the action Cities For Life/Cities Against The Death Penalty in Minsk.
29.11.2010 ‘Issues of Death Penalty Use in Belarus’ through journalists’ eyes
On 26-27 November Minsk hosted the seminar ‘Issues of Death Penalty Use in Belarus and their Coverage by Mass Media’, arranged by the Russia-based NGO ‘Penal Reform International’ and the Belarusian Association of Journalists. The event’s objective was teaching the media to apply more professional and unbiased means when covering the issue of the death penalty.
29.10.2010 Brest resident submits another demand to disclose burial site of executed criminal Zhuk
Sniazhana Neudakh, mother of three children and resident of Brest, has submitted another written request to the Presidential Administration, demanding to disclose the burial site of Andrei Zhuk, executed for double murder in March 2010.
26.10.2010 Father Alexander Nadson joins campaign against death penalty
Father Alexander Nadson, the Apostolic Visitor for Belarusian Greek-Catholic faithful abroad and a notable Belarusian émigré social and religious leader, signed onto the petition for the abolition of the death penalty in Belarus.
