BELARUS: DEATH SENTENCE APPEAL TO BE HEARD BY SUPREME COURT

September 24, 2009: an appeal against one of the two death sentences imposed this year in Belarus will be heard by the Supreme Court on October 2, Belapan news agency said.
The Brest Regional Court imposed the sentence on 30-year-old Vasil Yuzepchuk on June 29, finding him guilty of murdering and robbing six old women in villages of the Drahichyn district between November 2007 and January 2008.
This year's second death sentence was handed down on July 17. The Minsk Regional Court found 25-year-old Andrey Zhuk guilty of murdering two employees of a farming company who were carrying a large amount of cash to pay wages to the company’s staff. The sentences were condemned by the European Union and many international organizations, which have long called on Belarus to declare a moratorium on the death penalty. (Sources: Belapan, 24/09/2009)