According to state media in Minsk, the death sentence against a German in Belarus is apparently already in effect. Will the German government enter into negotiations to save the convicted man?
Several human rights organizations have called on the authorities in Belarus (formerly Belarus) to stop the execution of a German sentenced to death. The death sentence is particularly alarming because there are numerous and systematic violations of the right to due process and a fair trial in Belarusian courts, said the non-governmental organization Libereco in Berlin. According to the Foreign Ministry in Minsk, the German was convicted of terrorism and mercenary activities. According to state media in Minsk, the verdict is already legally binding because no appeal was lodged.
The signatories of the appeal also include Belarusian organizations working in exile abroad, including the Nobel Peace Prize-winning group Vyazna. They have been following the fate of the German for days. The convicted man’s lawyer, Vladimir Gorbach, said when asked by the German Press Agency that he was not allowed to comment publicly on the case at the request of his client.
The former rescue worker of the German Red Cross was accused of mercenary activity, espionage, terrorism, founding an extremist organization, destruction of a traffic object and illegal handling of weapons, explosives and ammunition, reported Wjasna.
Belarusian civil rights activist Andrej Paluda from the initiative “Human Rights Activists Against the Death Penalty in Belarus” said that ruler Alexander Lukashenko has the opportunity to pardon the man. However, observers expect that the “last dictator in Europe”, who has been sanctioned by the West, will not release the convicted man without compensation. Lukashenko is internationally criticized for human rights crimes and his support for the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
Belarus proposes solutions to the German government
The Foreign Ministry in Minsk announced that it had made suggestions to Berlin to resolve the situation. There were no details about the offer of negotiations. The Foreign Office did not comment, only saying that the death penalty had been imposed. The convicted man is reportedly receiving consular assistance.
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Opposition activist Pavel Latushko, who lives in exile in Poland, said that Lukashenko’s apparatus is trying to blackmail Germany. He assumes that Lukashenko had the death penalty imposed on the orders of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin. The aim is to force the release of a Russian convicted in Berlin of murder in Berlin’s Tiergarten in a prisoner exchange, the former culture minister said in a video message. He warned against negotiating with Lukashenko. “He is a terrorist,” he said. Lukashenko no longer knows any red lines.
Source: Stern
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