Belarus said on Saturday it was holding “negotiations” with Germany, a day after it emerged that Minsk had ordered the killing of a 30-year-old German man.
Rico K. was convicted by a Belarusian court last month under six articles of the criminal code, including “terrorism” and “mercenary work,” the country’s human rights group Viasna reported. Friday.
He was sentenced to death by firing squad, according to an article on the group’s website.
What did the Belarusian authorities say?
“Taking into account the request of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Belarus presented a concrete solution to the available options for improving the situation,” said the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Anatoly Glaz.
“The foreign ministries of these two countries are holding talks on this issue,” he added.
Glaz also said that Minsk provided access to the convicted person, without mentioning K.
The German Foreign Ministry declined to immediately respond to the Belarusian comments.
On Friday, a spokesman for the department said that he was informed of the conviction and that the authorities “provide the person in question with consular services” and “provide a strong representation to the Belarusian authorities on his behalf. “
Case details are still sketchy
Few details have been officially released about the case, but the AFP news agency reported that the sentence is said to be related to the Kastus Kalinouski Regiment, a military unit made up of Belarusian citizens fighting in Ukraine against Russia.
Belarus is a close ally of Moscow and has allowed Russian troops to be stationed in the country before a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Viasna added that the charges relate to laws against mercenary acts, agent acts, acts of terrorism, creating an extremist group, intentionally providing a vehicle or communication device that cannot be used and other acts. laws related to firearms, ammunition and explosives.
It is not clear whether K. is allowed to appeal the sentence.
K. has been held since November 2023 and was sentenced on June 24 after several secret court hearings, according to the rights group.
He works as a doctor for the German Red Cross and was previously an armed security officer for the US embassy in Berlin, according to what is believed to be his LinkedIn profile.
Several people are killed every year
Belarus is the last remaining European country to carry out executions,
More than 400 people have reportedly been killed since the country gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, according to Amnesty International. But the killing of foreigners is rare.
In the last ten years, between 2 and 9 people are sentenced to death every year, the Belarusian rights group Helsinki Committee said on its website.
In the past two years, Minsk has extended the threat of execution as punishment for high treason and “attempted terrorism.”
The country’s leader, Alexander Lukashenko, who rules with an iron fist, has arrested thousands of dissidents and civil society activists in the past few years.
Many have been charged with “attempted terrorism,” including Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the ousted Belarusian opposition leader, who was Lukashenko’s main challenger in the disputed 2020 election.
Lukashenko ordered a brutal crackdown on mass protests that broke out in the weeks after the election.
He said he got 80% of the votes, while international election observers said the election was not free and unfair.
mm/ab (AFP, Reuters)
Editor’s note: DW follows the German press code, which emphasizes the importance of protecting the privacy of suspected criminals or victims, and encourages us to avoid publishing the full names of alleged criminals.
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