- Belarus has executed 400 people since gaining independence
- The country is ruled by an authoritarian regime under the long-standing leadership of Lukashenko.
A German man sentenced to death by a Belarusian court was forced to plead for his life on state television, prompting Berlin to urge Minsk to stop “parading” detainees.
Rico Krieger, 30, was convicted under six articles of Belarus’ criminal code in a secret trial held in late June, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.
“I really hope that President (Alexander) Lukashenko will forgive me and pardon me,” he said on Belarusian public television, while handcuffed and behind bars, according to a statement cited by Russian news agency TASS.
German Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Kathrin Deschauer said Friday that “it is unfortunately common practice in Belarus to present people in videos or on television in this way and we are of course very concerned that parading in this way massively violates the dignity of that person.”
“We can only ask the Belarusian leadership to stop this practice,” he told reporters.
Rico Krieger, 30, pictured, appeared on Belarusian state television to plead for his life.
German Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Kathrin Deschauer called on Minsk to stop “parading” detainees as
Vladimir Putin pictured with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, right, during a meeting of the Supreme Council of the Union State in St. Petersburg, Russia, earlier this year
“We have been providing consular services to the detainee in question and are deeply concerned about his case,” Deschauer said, adding that “we as a government fundamentally reject the death penalty under all circumstances.”
Mr. Krieger revealed how Ukraine had asked him to photograph military installations in Belarus in October 2023 and had placed an explosive device on a railway line near Minsk on his orders.
“I deeply regret what I did and I am relieved that there were no casualties,” he added, saying he had been “abandoned” by the German government.
According to a LinkedIn profile that Viasna said belonged to Krieger, he worked as a doctor for the German Red Cross and had previously worked as an armed security officer for the U.S. embassy in Berlin.
Belarus is reported to have executed up to 400 people since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, according to Amnesty International, but executions of foreign nationals are rare.
The country is ruled by an authoritarian regime led by Lukashenko, who has detained thousands of dissidents and civic activists who oppose him.