Belarus: State television presents German sentenced to death (video)

A German sentenced to death in Belarus (formerly Belarus) has asked for mercy from the ruler Alexander Lukashenko in a video broadcast by state television. The German government is doing nothing to save him, the man said. According to the authorities in Minsk, he was convicted of terrorism on behalf of the Ukrainian secret service, among other things. “I plead guilty, definitely,” he said. Some of the German statements could be heard clearly between the Russian translation.

Authoritarian Belarus is the last country in Europe to still carry out the death penalty, namely by shooting someone in the back of the neck. The Foreign Office in Berlin has stated that the case is known. The man is receiving consular assistance. The death penalty is a cruel and inhumane form of punishment that Germany rejects under all circumstances, it said. However, the office did not comment on a negotiation offer made by Minsk.

“The government should fight for me”

Only his own family is still fighting for his life, and no one from the official side is standing up for him, the man said in the video. “I’m still alive, there’s still time to negotiate, it’s not too late,” he pleaded. “The government should fight for me.” In the video, which was obviously launched by the Belarusian leadership, the convicted man tearfully asked to be able to see his daughter, his girlfriend and his father again.

He repeatedly emphasized that he had made the biggest mistake of his life. “I regret every single second,” he said. “I can only count myself lucky that no one was killed or injured. Thank God!”

His last hope is a pardon from ruler Lukashenko, who is considered the last dictator in Europe and has already carried out death sentences against foreigners. “I can only hope that the president of this country, Mr Lukashenko, will forgive me,” he said.

Is Minsk interested in a prisoner exchange?

The man was sentenced to death in June. However, the verdict was not made public until a month later by civil rights organizations. The verdict was handed down for charges including mercenary activities.

The Foreign Ministry in Minsk announced that it had made proposals to Berlin to resolve the situation. No details were provided.

There has been speculation that Belarus, an ally of Russia, might be interested in a prisoner exchange. Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin is interested in bringing back a Russian who was convicted in Germany of a murder in Berlin’s Kleiner Tiergarten on behalf of Russian authorities. Putin received Lukashenko on the monastery island of Valaam in Lake Ladoga near St. Petersburg.

Several human rights organizations had called on the authorities in Belarus to stop the execution. The death sentence was particularly alarming because there were numerous and systematic violations of the right to due process and a fair trial in Belarusian courts, the organization Libereco said earlier this week.