Amnesty International: Belarus must stop executions

Amnesty International is deeply concerned that prisoner Eduard Lykau, sentenced to death penalty, is at imminent risk of execution in Belarus.

Eduard Lykau was convicted and sentenced to death on 26 November 2011 by the Minsk Regional Court for five murders committed in 2002, 2004 and 2011. Eduard Lykau was detained in September 2011 following the fifth murder in the village of Zhdanovichi, close to Minsk. Information regarding his death sentence was only released on 20 December 2011. According to official sources he was homeless and had already served several prison sentences for theft, hooliganism and non-payment of child support, “Viasna” human rights centre informs.

Following the recent reported execution of Alyaksandr Hrunou in early November, local activists have told Amnesty International that they believe Eduard Lykau is at greater risk of execution as death sentences are often implemented in quick succession and without prior notification.

Following a period of 24 months in which no executions took place, Belarus has executed three prisoners so far in 2014. Rygor Yuzepchuk and Pavel Selyun are believed to have both been executed in April this year.

Amnesty International addresses the authorities of Belarus with a demand to:

- Immediately commute the death sentence of Eduard Lykau to a term of imprisonment;

- Immediately establish an official moratorium on all executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty in Belarus;

- Ensure that full current information about the use of the death penalty in Belarus is publicly available and that family and lawyers are given full access to the prisoners and information about their cases.