President Alexander Lukashenko

BELARUS CARRIES OUT TWO EXECUTIONS

March 22, 2010: two men were executed in Belarus at the end of last week, Amnesty International reported. Andrei Zhuk and Vasily Yuzepchuk were both sentenced to death in 2009 for separate crimes but had been sharing a death row cell in the capital Minsk. Andrei Zhuk’s mother told Amnesty International on March 22 she was informed by prison staff that both men had been shot.
Andrei Zhuk's mother tried to deliver a food parcel on Friday morning, 19 March, but the parcel was returned and she was told that the two men "had been moved" and that she should not come looking for her son anymore, but should wait for the notification from the court.
His father was taken to hospital on March 22 having suffered a heart attack after hearing the news of the execution.
"Andrei Zhuk and Vasily Yuzepchuk were executed without being granted a last meeting with their relatives. The authorities must give their bodies and belongings to their relatives, should they wish to receive them. If they refuse to hand over the bodies, they must at least inform the relatives where their loved ones were buried,” Amnesty said.
Vasily Yuzepchuk was sentenced to death on 29 June 2009, for the murder of six elderly women, following an investigation and trial which his lawyer argues were fundamentally flawed: he says that Vasily Yuzepchuk was beaten to force him to confess.
Andrei Zhuk was sentenced to death on 22 July 2009, for the armed assault on and murder of a man and woman in February 2009. His lawyer has expressed his concerns regarding procedural violations during Andrei Zhuk's initial interrogation.
Both men appealed against their sentences and were turned down. Both had applied for clemency, but according to information received by Amnesty International the President’s decision regarding clemency is communicated to prisoners minutes before they are executed. (Sources: Amnesty.org, 22/03/2010)