Germany, UK urge Belarus to commute death sentences in bomb case

Germany, UK urge Belarus to commute death sentences in bomb case

2011-12-03 07:55:39 GMT+7 (ICT)

BERLIN/LONDON (BNO NEWS) -- The German and British government on Friday appealed to Belarus to commute the death sentences passed on two men found guilty of carrying out a bomb attack in the Minsk subway earlier this year.

In Germany, the Belarus ambassador in Berlin was summoned to the Foreign Ministry to hear the German view, according to the dpa news agency. Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said Germany is against the death penalty on principle, but also believes the circumstances of the trial meant that the sentences against the two men can not be justified.

British Foreign Office Minister David Lidington also expressed the United Kingdom's opposition to the death penalty and questioned "the standard of evidence provided and the conduct of the trial." He also called on Belarus to commute the sentences and "to establish a formal moratorium with a view to abolition of the death penalty."

On Wednesday, Dmitry Konovalov and Vladislav Kovalyov were both found guilty of detonating an explosive device at a subway station in Minsk on April 11, killing 15 people and injuring more than 200 others.

The court said Konovalov, who was accused of being the mastermind behind the attack, had repeatedly committed acts of terrorism. Kovalyov, as an accomplice to the crime, had known about Konovalov's practices for years, failing to report them to law enforcement agencies.

The Supreme Court's ruling is final and may not be appealed, the judge said, and the two men are to be executed by shooting. Persons sentenced to death in Belarus may only appeal to the president for pardon, but this is unlikely to happen as president Alexander Lukashenko has only once granted a pardon for the death penalty.

Lukashenko on Friday admitted that such decisions are the most difficult part of his job. "I must sign the decree and confirm the decision of the court, or, if they ask for mercy, I must consider clemency. This is the hardest thing the President can do," he said, as quoted by the state-run Belarusian Telegraph Agency (BelTA).

"However, this will be a very difficult decision for me; I do not know if I can call these two human beings. You have not forgotten what happened, I have not forgotten it all the more so. That was a huge blow on our society. I cannot blame the court for delivering this sentence," Lukashenko added.

Belarus remains the only European country which imposes and carries out the death penalty. Last year, two people were sentenced to capital punishment and eventually executed in Belarus.

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