Por Heather McGill, investigadora de Amnistía Internacional sobre Bielorrusia
Me reuní con el coronel Oleg Alkaev en Berlín en octubre de 2008. Había sido director del centro de prisión preventiva (SIZO) núm. 1 de Minsk de 1996 a 2001 y, como tal, responsable de un pelotón de fusilamiento formado por 13 hombres. En 2006 había publicado un libro en el que contaba su experiencia.
Grabamos una entrevista en vídeo con el coronel Oleg Alkaev en 2008. Fue escalofriante oírle hablar del sufrimiento que había experimentado y de la pena de muerte.
En este vídeo, el coronel pinta un crudo retrato del homicidio a manos del Estado en Bielorrusia. Podéis escuchar su relato de cómo los internos ignoraban que estaban a punto de ser ejecutados y las madres de los condenados a muerte llegaban buscando a sus hijos sin saber que ya estaban muertos.
Continuar leyendo ‘¡Acabemos con la pena de muerte en Bielorrusia!’ »
Celdas para presos condenados a muerte, SIZO de Minsk, Bierlorrusia. (c) Public Association 'Legislative Initiative'
Por Heather McGill, investigadora de Amnistía Internacional sobre Bielorrusia
El 20 de julio de este año, un periódico local bielorruso publicó que se había ejecutado a Andrei Burdyka y a otro hombre. Pero las autoridades guardaron silencio. Las familias de ambos llevan dos meses esperando confirmación oficial. La prisión entregó algunas pertenencias de Andrei Burdyka a su madre en julio, pero ella conservaba la esperanza de que pudiera seguir vivo.
Hace menos de dos semanas, el 23 de septiembre, la madre de Andrei Burdyka recibió una llamada telefónica del tribunal regional. Le dijeron que podía presentarse en la oficina del registro para recoger el certificado de defunción de su hijo.
Continuar leyendo ‘La pena de muerte en Bielorrusia: Dolorosa espera de las familias’ »
Prison cells of death row prisoners, SIZO in Minsk, Belarus. (c) Public Association 'Legislative Initiative'
By Heather McGill, Amnesty International researcher on Belarus
A local newspaper in Belarus reported on 20 July this year that Andrei Burdyka and another man had been executed. The authorities, however, were silent. For two months, the families of the two men have been waiting for official confirmation. Andrei Burdyka’s mother had been handed back some of her son’s possessions by the prison in July, but she remained hopeful that he might still have been alive.
Less than two weeks ago, on 23 September, Andrei Burdyka’s mother received a phone call from the regional court. She was told that she could go to the registry office to collect her son’s death certificate.
Andrei Burdyka and another man were sentenced to death on 14 May 2010 for crimes committed during an armed robbery on a private apartment in the town of Grodno in October 2009. The two men were found guilty of premeditated murder, armed assault, arson, kidnapping of a minor, and theft and robbery.
Now, after receiving the death certificate confirming that her son has been executed, the mother of Andrei Burdyka has spoken publicly for the first time to the local press about her son’s last year and her own loss. Continuar leyendo ‘The death penalty in Belarus: families’ painful wait’ »
By Heather McGill, Amnesty International’ researcher on Belarus
I met with Colonel Oleg Alkaev in Berlin in October 2008. He had been the Director of remand prison (SIZO)6 No.1 in Minsk between 1996 and 2001. In this capacity he was in charge of a shooting squad of 13 men.He published a book to describe his experience in 2006.
We recorded a video interview with Colonel Oleg Alkaev in 2008. It was a chilling experience to hear him talk about the suffering he had witnessed and the practice of the death penalty.
His words in this video paint a stark picture of state killing in Belarus. Listen to him describe how prisoners did not know they were about to be executed and how mothers of death row inmates went looking for their sons—not knowing they were already dead.
Continuar leyendo ‘End the death penalty in Belarus!’ »
A growing list of countries has abolished the death penalty in either law or practice ©Amnesty International
By Salil Shetty, Secretary-General of Amnesty International
Last March, when Andrei Zhuk’s mother brought one of her usual food parcels to the prison in Minsk, she was turned away. Her son ‘had been moved’, officials told her. She should not come looking for him anymore, they said, but should instead wait for notification from the court.
Three days later, she was informed by prison staff that her son and another man, Vasily Yuzepchuk, cell mates on death row for separate murders, had been shot. Officials refused to return Andrei’s body or belongings, or even to say where he had been buried. She was shocked. Her husband suffered a heart attack upon hearing the news. Continuar leyendo ‘The global movement to kill the death penalty’ »
