Amnesty International: Regime of Lukashenka ignores PACE call to moratorium on death penalty

• 1.07.2009, 13:03

Amnesty International and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee responded to a new death sentence delivered in Belarus on Monday.

The Belarusian authorities continue to ignore international pressure on them to declare a moratorium on the death penalty, Radio Svaboda quotes a press release of Amnesty International.

The sentence was pronounced less than a week after the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly voted in favour of restoring the Special Guest status to the Parliament of Belarus on the condition that Belarus declares a moratorium on the execution of the death penalty.

“The death sentence is clear evidence that there is no “de-facto moratorium” in Belarus as has been claimed by the government, and that we need to remain alert to the possibility that they continue to carry out death sentences”, said Nicola Duckworth, Director of the Europe and Central Asia Programme.