European Union condemns another death sentence in Belarus

The representation of the European Commission has disseminated a statement on that on August 3.

“This death sentence was issued by Minsk city court to Andrei Zhuk. A month earlier another death sentence was issued,” the document reads.

The EU called upon Belarus to lift death penalty, and first impose moratorium on its execution.

The EU reminds about statements done by the government of Belarus over the last several months. It was stated that the government plans to limit and later abolish death penalty.

The EU reminds about the resolution of the PACE approved on June 23, 2009. It said the special guest status for the Belarusian “parliament” would be restored only after Belarus imposed a moratorium on the death penalty.

The document underlines that the EU is against any use of the capital punishment in any cases and any conditions, and consistently calls upon its abolishing worldwide. “The EU is convinced that ban on the death penalty is the main element of defense of human dignity and progressive development of human rights, the statement reads.

The candidate countries Turkey, Croatia and Macedonia, the countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidate countries Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia, the European Free Trade Association countries and members of the European Economic Area Iceland and Norway, as well as Ukraine aligned themselves with this statement.

We remind that on July 17 the Court of the Minsk region sentenced killers of two officers of Bolshevik-Agro company in the Minsk region to death and life imprisonment. A chief economist (female) and a driver of Bolshevik-Agro company (male) were killed in the Salihorsk district at the end of February this year. One accused was sentenced to death, and another accused in this case life imprisonment.

On June 29 this year, Brest regional court sentenced a 30-year-old murderer of six pensioners in the Drahichyn district to death.