Belarus executes another death-row convict - rights defenders
29-year-old inhabitant of Lida District Ivan Kulesh was executed by shooting. He was sentenced to death for the murder of three women and robbery in November 2015.
Coordinator of the Rights Defenders Against Death Penalty in Belarus campaign Andrei Paluda learned about the execution from the convict’s relatives. It probably happened on November 5 (the exact date will be known when the relatives receive the death certificate). Kulesh did not try to appeal his sentence in the Supreme Court. It was his lawyer who lodged a complaint.
It is the second death sentence fulfilled in Belarus this year. Rechytsa resident Syarhei Ivanou was executed at the end of spring 2016. He had been returned guilty of a brutal murder of a young woman.
Belarus is the only European country where capital punishment still exists. More than 400 people were executed in our country in the past 20 years, rights defenders say. Alyaksandr Lukashenka granted a pardon only to one person sentenced to death.
Henadz Yakavitski (brutal murder of his common-law wife), Syarhei Hmyaleuski (murder of three neighbours) and Syarhei Vostrykau (brutal murder of two women, rape and abduction) are expecting execution in Belarus at the moment.
