Baerbock protest death sentence passed on German in Belaruse

By DPA Correspondents I Friday, July 26, 2024

 

BERLIN – German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has sharply criticized the actions of the authorities in Belarus in connection with a German citizen sentenced to death there.

“It is unbearable how the Belarusian regime paraded a German national on television,” Baerbock told journalists on Friday on the sidelines of her summer trip to the northern port city of Hamburg.

“Of course, as the Foreign Office and also with our embassy on site, we are in close contact, not only with the affected person, not only with the family, but also providing the best possible consular support,” she said.

“We must do everything to ensure that his rights are maintained and remain protected,” Baerbock added.

She said that the death penalty has been abolished and forbidden in Europe. “There are clear rules for dealing with foreign nationals, and we are doing everything to support the German national in the best possible way,” Baerbock added.

In a video aired by state television on Thursday, the German sentenced to death pleaded with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko for mercy.

The German government wasn’t doing anything to save him, the man, who was sentenced for carrying out terrorism offences on behalf on Ukraine, said in the television clip.

“I plead guilty, definitely,” he said in German, with his statements partially audible over the simultaneous translation track.

There are significant questions about the circumstances under which the video was made, the Foreign Office in Berlin said.

According to the authorities in Minsk, he had been convicted of terrorism on behalf of the Ukrainian secret service. The man was sentenced to death in June, including on mercenary charges, but the verdict was only made public by human rights organizations a month later.

Belarus is the last country in Europe that still carries out the death penalty, specifically by a shot in the back of the neck.

At the time, the Foreign Ministry in Minsk said it had made offers to Berlin to negotiate in the case, without giving further details. There was speculation that Belarus, which is allied with Russia, could be seeking an exchange of prisoners. The German government did not comment on this.