Belarus is the only state in Europe and the CIS in which the death penalty is applied. This punishment is imposed for particularly grave acts against life under aggravating circumstances and is carried out through execution.
The death penalty in Belarus: statistics
Since 1999, the number of sentences has been gradually reduced. In 2015, this measure was imputed to at least two people. However, only one death penalty took place . In Belarus, statistics of particularly serious acts are more than modest. Nevertheless, the application of capital punishment causes a public outcry. In January 2015, amendments to the Criminal Code were introduced. They indicated that if the subject entered into a pre-trial agreement with the investigating authorities and assisted in solving the crime, he could not be sentenced to death. In the Republic of Belarus, statistics on sentences handed down indicate that the courts are still not seeking to impose capital punishment on a mandatory basis. Particularly dangerous for society subjects are sentenced mainly to life imprisonment. The last death penalty in Belarus took place in 2016.
Oleg Alkaev
This person knows firsthand how the death penalty is carried out in Belarus . In the 90s, Oleg Alkaev worked as the head of the Minsk pre-trial detention center No. 1. This prison contains persons sentenced to death. Alkaev told about how the death penalty is carried out in Belarus in his book. Its name is "Firing Squad." The sentences are carried out by employees of SIZO No. 1. The head of the institution acts as the head of the "team." The technology for enforcing a sentence is formally classified. However, this procedure is no longer a secret, since it is described in detail by Alkaev. It is worth noting that the former head of the pre-trial detention center fled to the West, received asylum in Germany. Further in the article, some excerpts from the book of Alkaev will be given.
"Firing squad"
It has the official name: "Special Group for the Execution of the Death Penalty." This wording is contained in the instructions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs regulating the procedure. The same document defines the personal and quantitative composition of the group. The instruction sets the scope of tasks that are assigned to employees. The group, led by Alkaev, included 13 people. In addition to direct performers, it included a representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and a doctor. The duties of the latter consisted in stating death. The representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was entrusted with control and registration functions. The prosecutor appointed by the Prosecutor General of the Republic acted as a key oversight body. It is he who acts as the main official controlling the administration of justice strictly in accordance with the law. The prosecutor is not a direct member of the group. The remaining employees are appointed by the head and approved by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Distribution of duties
It is carried out by the team leader. The head of the pre-trial detention center selects at least 2 performers and at least 3 drivers. Alkaev in his book writes that he sought to include "universal" employees in his group. In his opinion, each employee should have been able to carry out any tasks set by the leader, including directly enforcing the sentence. The group included physically strong male employees with strong nerves. Its structure was attended, as a rule, by employees of the pre-trial detention center. But in some cases, outsiders were allowed to engage. During working hours, members of the group performed their usual duties. At the signal of the chief, they immediately arrived at the collection point. The call was made in such a way that the absence of an employee at the workplace was natural and not suspicious. The employees arrived at the gathering with service weapons.
Crucial moment
After setting goals for the collection, some of the employees were delivered by special transport to the point of enforcement of the sentence. There they prepared a place for the reception of convicts. Other members of the group returned to jail. According to the documents received from the head of the institution, they organized the convicts' exit from the cells, boarding the car, transportation to the punishment station. This moment was considered the most responsible in the whole procedure. When transporting convicts around the city, an attack on cars could occur to release the convicts. In this regard, the head announced the loading time and route immediately before the event. Moreover, information was transmitted only verbally and only to those employees who will be involved in this operation. At the same time, measures were taken to provide encryption of the convoy movement path. In the event of an attack on the convoy, the SIZO officers have the right to leave the car only after the execution of all convicts.
Last minutes of life
After the convicts are delivered to the place of execution, they are placed under heavy guard. Before the call, convicts are in a special cell. After the preparation is complete, the prosecutor, the head of the group and the representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are located in the adjacent building. They sit down at the table on which the personal files of the convicts are located. The manager gives the last name, and employees bring the first person. According to the instructions, the prosecutor asks him several questions, specifying the data. This is done in order to make sure that in front of him is a really convicted person sentenced to death. The prosecutor further announces that the citizen’s petition for clemency filed in the name of the president has been rejected and the punishment will be executed. At this moment, as Alkaev tells, the convicts are in a state of almost complete madness. Most of them do not understand what is happening, and do not think that now everything will end. After the prosecutor announces the execution of the sentence, the group leader gives a command to his subordinates. The sentenced is blindfolded. This is necessary so that he cannot navigate in space. After that, he is taken to a neighboring room, in which the performer is already standing.
The death penalty in Belarus
How is the shooting? At the signal of the performer, the convict is kneeling in front of the bullet-shield. The performer shoots at the back of the head of the condemned. The death of a person occurs almost instantly. The entire procedure from the moment the declaration of refusal of pardon is announced to the enforcement of the sentence takes no more than two minutes. As Alkaev notes, the convicts do not understand what is happening to them. Death occurs suddenly. After the announcement of refusal of pardon, probably, as the author says, people still hope that they still have some time, day, hour or at least five minutes.
Special convicts
During Alkaev’s work, the head of the pre-trial detention center and the head of the special group enforced 134 sentences. As the author notes, only four of them understood that death would come in a few seconds, and passed away in a more or less normal state. At the same time, Alkaev writes, it seemed that they believed in God. These were people who did not just read the Bible. They looked like true believers.
Final stage
What happens after the death penalty? In Belarus, there is a special instruction for employees involved in the execution procedure. The doctor states the biological death of a person. The head of the special group, the physician and the prosecutor must sign the act on the enforcement of punishment. As a rule, paper is prepared in advance. This act acts as the main reporting and accounting document. On its basis, certificates are issued for the court that issued the verdict, the registry office for registration of the death certificate. The act on the enforcement of punishment, together with the burial document and other papers, is filed with the case file, then transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs archive.
Additionally
As a rule, Alkaev writes, the number of people sentenced is 3-5 people. However, it also happened that only one convict was brought to execution. The number of people depends on the intensity of the work of the Clemency Commission. After the execution, the bodies are packed in bags and buried. Burial places are kept secret.
Personal attitude of the author to work
Alkaev writes that he was disgusted with the enforcement procedure. Moreover, he points out that the other members of the group had the same attitude. The employees, who showed enthusiastic emotions during the execution, were immediately withdrawn from the “team”. In general, the members of the group in ordinary life are quite peaceful people. According to Alkaev, they are all worthy of respect, since they are doing an ungrateful, rough job, at the same time risking authority, public status, and the acquisition of the “executioner” stigma. Many of the members of the group are not even able to swear at home. However, they execute the order to the end. Moreover, no one, not even relatives, can know what they are doing. Executors of sentences are required to remain silent.
Normative base
The country's Basic Law states that the death penalty in Belarus can only be used as an exceptional measure. In this case, the subject may be pardoned by the president. In this case, the death penalty is replaced by a life sentence in prison . Why give the death penalty in Belarus ? Crimes for which capital punishment is established are determined by the Criminal Code. Among them:
- The outbreak of an aggressive war or its conduct.
- The murder of a foreign representative in order to provoke complications of the international situation.
- Genocide.
- International terrorism.
- The murder of young, elderly, pregnant women, committed with particular cruelty, accompanied by rape and other serious acts.
- High treason involving intentional deprivation of life.
- The killing of law enforcement officers.
This is far from all, for which the death penalty is envisaged in Belarus .
Exceptions
The death penalty in Belarus is not appointed:
- Minors.
- To women.
- Men who are 65 years old by the date of sentencing.
Pardon
As mentioned above, the death penalty in Belarus can be replaced by a life in prison. Only the president has the right to pardon a convicted person. The Criminal Procedure Code (Article 176) establishes yet another case when the sentence imposed is not carried out. The death penalty is not carried out upon the establishment of a mental illness (disorder), which deprives the prisoner of the opportunity to understand his behavior and direct his actions. As A. Lukashenko pointed out, during his presidency he pardoned one convict.
Public response
In November 1996, the country held a referendum. Citizens were asked a question - do we need the death penalty in Belarus? For and against , a different number of respondents spoke out. At the same time, over 80% of respondents spoke in favor of maintaining this punishment. Against such a sentence was about 18%. Since 1992, the state has been a party to the Optional Protocol, which allows the special UN Committee to consider applications and complaints of persons sentenced to death. Upon receipt of the appeal, this body has the right to send a request to the Belarusian authorities to postpone the sentence. However, according to representatives of the Committee, penalties are enforced even for complaints that are pending. So, in 2014, two people who sent a statement were executed. However, the Committee on their complaints requested that the execution be postponed. In October 2015, he ruled that the execution of citizen Yuzepchuk (in 2010) violated his right to life. Moreover, representatives of the Committee indicated that the confession of the victim had been obtained under torture, and that the trial, after which the verdict had been pronounced, was in violation of the principles of impartiality and independence. In 2015, authorities agreed to conduct a public campaign related to the lifting of capital punishment. However, the government rejected the recommendations of the UN Committee to introduce a moratorium on the death penalty.
In Belarus, relatives are not allowed to visit prisoners sentenced to death before executing a sentence. The delivery of bodies to relatives for burial is also not allowed. Meanwhile, in almost all countries of the world, the death penalty has been abolished. In such states,
life imprisonment is considered the supreme measure
. Belarus adheres to a long established order. In the near future, most likely, the attitude of the authorities towards the application of capital punishment will not change.