Germany aware citizen sentenced to death in Belarus, foreign ministry says

2024-07-19

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Germany's foreign ministry said on Friday that a German national had been sentenced to death in Belarus, and that Berlin is in intensive contact with authorities in Minsk over his fate.

"The Foreign Office and the embassy in Minsk are giving the person in question consular support and are working intensively with Belarusian authorities on his behalf," the ministry said in a statement.

Earlier on Friday, Belarusian human rights organization Viasna said that a German national it named as Rico Krieger had been sentenced to death in Belarus on charges related to terrorism and mercenary activity, citing unnamed sources.

In a statement published on its website, Viasna said Krieger had been in custody since November 2023 and was convicted on June 24.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the details of the legal proceedings.

Belarus' justice ministry, which had not reported any such case, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Belarus, governed by longtime President Alexander Lukashenko, is a close ally of Russia in the conflict in neighboring Ukraine, and the country is under extensive Western sanctions.

Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.