After the death penalty verdict: Minsk seeks 'concrete solutions' with the Federal Government
**After the death sentence verdict against a German in Belarus, the Minsk government, according to its own statements, is in "consultations" with the German government. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry announced this on Saturday. In this case, it concerns a 30-year-old German who, according to the Belarusian human rights organization Viasna, was sentenced to death for "terrorism" and "mercenary activities."
"The Belarusian side has proposed concrete solutions that are based on the current possibilities for changing the situation," the Belarusian Foreign Ministry spokesman Anatoli Glaz announced on Saturday on the X online service. "The Foreign Ministries of both countries are holding consultations on this matter."
Viasna had announced on Friday that the German had already been found guilty by a Belarusian court on June 24 for several crimes, including "terrorism" and "mercenary activities." The German Foreign Office stated that the case was known and that German authorities were "intensively" working for the man. The death penalty is "a cruel and inhumane form of punishment that Germany rejects under all circumstances," it was further stated.
The trial against the German took place in part behind closed doors, according to Viasna. His sentencing is linked to the Kastus Kalinouski Regiment, a military unit of Belarusian volunteers who fight on the side of Ukraine against Russia. In Belarus, the regiment is classified as an "extremist group."**
- The German government has strongly condemned the death penalty verdict against their citizen, urging the Federal government to actively seek solutions in its consultations with the Minsk government.
- After the condemnation from the international community, the Minsk government suggested potential solutions to the German government, aiming to alter the situation in accordance with their proposals.
- In the aftermath of the verdict, concerned Germans have called upon their Federal government to intensify efforts in finding viable solutions to prevent the execution of their fellow citizen.
