Belarusian MFA again demonstrates disregard for EU calls

Belarus’s stance on death penalty is well known – it is a position of the whole country that does not need any additional comments, the Belarusian MFA spokesman says.

Andrei Savinykh said this at a briefing on December 1 commenting on a statement of the Council of Europe condemning death sentence to Dzmitry Kanavalau and Uladzislau Kavalyou, accused of terrorism, BelaPAN news agency reports.

The Council of Europe's Secretary General, Thornbjorn Jagland, called upon the Belarusian authorities to cancel the death sentence to Dzmitry Kanavalau and Uladzislau Kavalyou. “The crime they were found guilty of was barbaric, but their punishment should not be the same. Belarus is the only country in Europe which still executes people and I would urge the authorities to introduce an immediate moratorium with a view to its ultimate abolition. The victims of the 11 April attack and their families deserve justice, not revenge,” Jagland said.

Savinykh declined to answer how the decision of the Belarusian court would impact the relations with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which earlier set a condition of abolition or imposing moratorium on death penalty for restoring Belarus’s special guest status. The spokesman said “this question should be addressed to competent parliamentary institutions”.

The death sentence passed by the Supreme Court of Belarus was also condemned by the European Union and other international institutions. They emphasized in their statements Belarus was the only European country still using capital punishment.