Belarus has executed two men despite an international appeal for clemency, just as EU countries start talks on whether to impose extra sanctions.
The metro bomb killed 15 people and wounded around 200 on 11 April last year. Within hours, Lukashenko - together with his seven-year-old son - appeared to make a personal tour of the grizzly scene.
The two men were detained the next day and later interrogated for seven hours with no lawyers present.
Both confessed. But Kavalyou subsequently retracted his confession, saying that he and Dzmitry had been threatened and physically tortured. Medical experts confirmed they had serious injuries, according to Change.org, a social platform which campaigned for their release.
The EU and human rights groups have strongly condemned the execution of two young men in Belarus following their conviction for a deadly attack on the Minsk metro last April.
European governments said they were dismayed by the sentence and described the men's trial as deeply flawed. The Belarus president, Alexander Lukashenko, described as "Europe's last dictator" by the former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, had rejected pleas for clemency from the EU.
"Belarus is the only country in Europe which still executes people," Thorbjørn Jaglan, the secretary general of the Council of Europe, said. "With its disrespect of basic human rights and democratic standards, the government of Belarus is increasingly isolating its country and its people from the rest of the world."
Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief, said she sympathised with the families of the 15 people who died and the 300 injured in the metro bombings, but stressed there was clear evidence that the two accused were not accorded due process "including the right to defend themselves".
Human rights activists said they were appalled by the executions, saying they deprived society of the opportunity to learn the truth. "The government was in a rush to throw a white shroud over all the contradictions and discrepancies," Lyudmila Gryaznova said. "The execution of the so-called terrorists, whose guilt remains under suspicion, gives the appearance that the government is concealing the traces of the crime."
Official Ukraine has supported the position of the European Union, namely the statement by Ashton. ForUm has asked MPs what they think about the execution of "terrorists" and about the death penalty itself.
Oleksandr Yefremov, Party of Regions faction leader:
- I am very careful when it comes to the death penalty. First of all, the system of justice the world has does not rule out a mistake. But if a person is executed there is no way to correct it. Secondly, many countries have death penalty, but when authorities are in hurry to execute the sentence it raises suspicions. Nobody was pushing Belarusians to execute. They could have postponed the sentence in order to investigate more thoroughly.
Besides, we are all Christians, and the Bible says we cannot hold someone's life, as its not use who give it, but it's given from on high.
Valery Bevz, Communist party MP, head of the parliamentary committee on fight against organized crime:
- It's hard to give a decisive answer to whether the death penalty should exist or not. It is an eternal problem. Some countries, like US, have such punishment, some don't. But there are some analysts, who say that the death penalty is not only a punishment, but also a preventive measure, a kind of a message to a potential offender about possible consequences in case of violation of civil and holy laws.
It is difficult to make dogmatic conclusions about the execution in Belarus. This country has death penalty as one of the punishments. And I want to remind, that the bomb blast killed 15 people and injured about 300.
Ukraine's Constitution says that a man, his life and health, rights and freedoms are the biggest values for the society. The question is what men the law keeps in mind: all citizens of Ukraine or only law-abiding ones. Does the law keep in mind those freaks from Mykolayv, who raped and burned Oksana Makar, or only Oksana Makar?
Oleh Bilorus, BYuT faction MP, head of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs:
- My attitude towards death penalty is typically European. In Norway, for example, Breivik shot 78 people, but nobody thinks about shooting him in return. His punishment will be more severe - life sentence.
In Belarus the situation is very serious. The world press writes that the authorities shot innocent. And what if it is true? The scandal will bring Belarus in such isolation it will never come out from.
I believe Ukraine took right decision supporting European countries on this issue.
Andriy Parubiy, Our Ukraine faction MP, head of the subcommittee on external relations of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs:
- I believe that cancellation of death penalty in the EU is right decision. There have been cases in the world and in Ukraine, when a convict was serving his sentence for years, but then it turned out he had nothing to do with the crime.
Official position of Ukraine, which is disapproval of death penalty in Belarus, meets European tendencies.
The metro bomb killed 15 people and wounded around 200 on 11 April last year. Within hours, Lukashenko - together with his seven-year-old son - appeared to make a personal tour of the grizzly scene.
The two men were detained the next day and later interrogated for seven hours with no lawyers present.
Both confessed. But Kavalyou subsequently retracted his confession, saying that he and Dzmitry had been threatened and physically tortured. Medical experts confirmed they had serious injuries, according to Change.org, a social platform which campaigned for their release.
The EU and human rights groups have strongly condemned the execution of two young men in Belarus following their conviction for a deadly attack on the Minsk metro last April.
European governments said they were dismayed by the sentence and described the men's trial as deeply flawed. The Belarus president, Alexander Lukashenko, described as "Europe's last dictator" by the former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, had rejected pleas for clemency from the EU.
"Belarus is the only country in Europe which still executes people," Thorbjørn Jaglan, the secretary general of the Council of Europe, said. "With its disrespect of basic human rights and democratic standards, the government of Belarus is increasingly isolating its country and its people from the rest of the world."
Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief, said she sympathised with the families of the 15 people who died and the 300 injured in the metro bombings, but stressed there was clear evidence that the two accused were not accorded due process "including the right to defend themselves".
Human rights activists said they were appalled by the executions, saying they deprived society of the opportunity to learn the truth. "The government was in a rush to throw a white shroud over all the contradictions and discrepancies," Lyudmila Gryaznova said. "The execution of the so-called terrorists, whose guilt remains under suspicion, gives the appearance that the government is concealing the traces of the crime."
Official Ukraine has supported the position of the European Union, namely the statement by Ashton. ForUm has asked MPs what they think about the execution of "terrorists" and about the death penalty itself.
Oleksandr Yefremov, Party of Regions faction leader:
- I am very careful when it comes to the death penalty. First of all, the system of justice the world has does not rule out a mistake. But if a person is executed there is no way to correct it. Secondly, many countries have death penalty, but when authorities are in hurry to execute the sentence it raises suspicions. Nobody was pushing Belarusians to execute. They could have postponed the sentence in order to investigate more thoroughly.
Besides, we are all Christians, and the Bible says we cannot hold someone's life, as its not use who give it, but it's given from on high.
Valery Bevz, Communist party MP, head of the parliamentary committee on fight against organized crime:
- It's hard to give a decisive answer to whether the death penalty should exist or not. It is an eternal problem. Some countries, like US, have such punishment, some don't. But there are some analysts, who say that the death penalty is not only a punishment, but also a preventive measure, a kind of a message to a potential offender about possible consequences in case of violation of civil and holy laws.
It is difficult to make dogmatic conclusions about the execution in Belarus. This country has death penalty as one of the punishments. And I want to remind, that the bomb blast killed 15 people and injured about 300.
Ukraine's Constitution says that a man, his life and health, rights and freedoms are the biggest values for the society. The question is what men the law keeps in mind: all citizens of Ukraine or only law-abiding ones. Does the law keep in mind those freaks from Mykolayv, who raped and burned Oksana Makar, or only Oksana Makar?
Oleh Bilorus, BYuT faction MP, head of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs:
- My attitude towards death penalty is typically European. In Norway, for example, Breivik shot 78 people, but nobody thinks about shooting him in return. His punishment will be more severe - life sentence.
In Belarus the situation is very serious. The world press writes that the authorities shot innocent. And what if it is true? The scandal will bring Belarus in such isolation it will never come out from.
I believe Ukraine took right decision supporting European countries on this issue.
Andriy Parubiy, Our Ukraine faction MP, head of the subcommittee on external relations of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs:
- I believe that cancellation of death penalty in the EU is right decision. There have been cases in the world and in Ukraine, when a convict was serving his sentence for years, but then it turned out he had nothing to do with the crime.
Official position of Ukraine, which is disapproval of death penalty in Belarus, meets European tendencies.
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1990
