Supreme Court hands out more sentences in Marozaw gang case
18:11, — Crime
The Supreme Court of Belarus on October 9 handed down sentences to seven alleged members of the so-called Marozaw gang that had terrorized the Homyel region for 14 years.
Five of them were tried on new charges that were brought against them after their trial at the end of 2006. The remaining two, Dzmitry Sidarenka and Aleh Dzhumaw, who tried to escape prosecution and were arrested later, went on trial for the first time.
The court sentenced the leader of the gang, Syarhey Marozaw, and his close associate Ihar Danchanka to death by shooting, the same sentences imposed on them in the 2006 hearing.
Alyaksandr Astratsow Hutyra, Dzmitry Sidarenka, Alyaksandr Semchanka and Vital Zaytsaw were sentenced to 20 years in prison with confiscation orders. Aleh Dzhumaw was sentenced to six years in prison with a confiscation order.
The closed-door trial was held in Minsk's Pretrial Detention Center No. 1 for security reasons.
Deputy Prosecutor General Viktar Prus told reporters in late February that the seven men were charged with five counts of premeditated murder and four counts of attempted murder.
The investigation of crimes committed by the so-called Marozaw gang continues, Eldar Safranaw, who was the prosecutor in the trial of seven alleged members of the gang, told reporters following the hearing on Tuesday.
Mr. Safaraw said that the second death sentence was a “unique case in the history of the Belarusian judiciary.”
He said that the execution of Mr. Marozaw’s death sentence might be postponed to a later date until the investigators completed their probe.
He offered more details about the most recent hearing. According to him, the seven people were tried for the killing of five people and six attempted murders committed between 1989 and 1994. The investigation of the crimes continued when the first trial was held.
According to Mr. Safarow, the leader of the gang and his two associates sentenced to death appealed to the head of state to pardon them.
Five police officers, including the chief of the regional criminal investigation department, were earlier convicted by the Supreme Court in the case, with one more person, Mr. Marozaw’s close associate Valery Harbaty, sentenced to shooting. A total of 46 people then stood trial.
