TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Belarusian human rights group said Friday that a German national has been sentenced to death for terrorism and other charges in connection with an explosion intended to disturb public order.
Belarus is the only country in Europe that still executes people on death row, a practice that has been widely criticised: prisoners are reportedly informed that their appeal has been rejected, made to kneel and then shot in the back of the head minutes later.
The German foreign ministry said it was aware of the incident and that it and the German embassy in Minsk were providing consular assistance to the victim and appealing for help to Belarusian authorities, but did not provide further details such as the victim’s name.
Belarus newspaper editor sentenced to four years in prisonhttps://t.co/oahnia8O9z
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Viasna, a highly respected human rights group founded by a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, identified the convicted man as Rico Krieger, a medic with the German Red Cross. It said Krieger was sentenced in a closed trial in late June on charges including mercenary activities, terrorism and forming an extremist group.
The verdict found them guilty of “setting off the explosion with the intent to influence the decision-making of the authorities, to intimidate the population and to destabilise public order”, but it was unclear when and where the explosion took place, Viasna said.
“The death penalty is a cruel and inhuman punishment and Germany rejects it under all circumstances,” the German foreign ministry said.
