Officials in Belarus remain silent – but human rights activists report a death sentence against a German. The sentence is said to be related to the war in Ukraine.
According to human rights organizations, a German citizen has been sentenced to death in the former Soviet republic of Belarus. The former rescue worker of the German Red Cross is accused of mercenary activity, espionage, terrorism, the creation of an extremist organization, destruction of a transport facility and illegal handling of weapons, explosives and ammunition, reported the Belarusian human rights organization Vjasna, among others.
He was sentenced to be shot because of his alleged involvement in a bomb attack. The verdict was passed about a month ago, but was only made known now. The authorities in Minsk have not officially announced the verdict.
When asked by the German Press Agency, the Foreign Ministry in Berlin said that the case was known. “The Foreign Office and the embassy in Minsk are providing consular support to the person concerned and are working intensively on his behalf with the Belarusian authorities,” they said in a statement. Berlin fundamentally rejects the death penalty as cruel and inhumane.
It is still unclear which explosion the man is accused of. However, according to human rights activists, the case is linked to a regiment consisting mainly of Belarusian volunteers that is fighting on Kiev’s side against the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Belarus is officially neutral in the war. However, Russia also invaded Ukraine through Belarusian territory in its large-scale attack. Relations between Minsk and Kiev are tense.
After the invasion began, opponents of the Russian war of aggression in Belarus also rendered unusable infrastructure facilities in their own country, such as railway lines, which were used by the Russian military.
The German, who comes from Berlin, has been in custody since November 2023. According to information from Vyazna, he is said to have worked for a short time as a security guard at the US Embassy in Berlin before his time as a rescue worker.
Ruler Alexander Lukashenko has ruled Belarus continuously since 1994. When he declared himself the winner after the controversial 2020 election, there were mass protests across the country that were brutally suppressed. More than 1,000 people are considered political prisoners in the country. Belarus is the only country in Europe where the death penalty is still imposed. Those sentenced to death are shot.
Source: Stern
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