COPENHAGEN, 16 March 2012 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Petros Efthymiou called today for authorities in Minsk to halt its use of the death penalty after reports that President Alexander Lukashenko has decided to go forward with the use of the death penalty in the cases of two men convicted for the April 2011 Minsk metro bombing.

"I am troubled by President Lukashenko's decision go forward with the use of the death penalty in the cases of Uladzislau Kavalyou and Dzmitry Kanavalau, the two men who have been sentenced to death for their involvement in the April 2011 metro bombing in Minsk," Efthymiou said. "I appeal to the president to reverse the decision and join the 54 other OSCE participating States who have decided to stop using this ineffective form of punishment."

"After the bombing last April, our Assembly stood with the people of Belarus in condemning the act of violence," Efthymiou said. "At that time, we expressed our hope that authorities would ensure the rule of law be upheld in the prosecution of the crime. The lack of fairness in this trial and the lack of transparency in Belarusian courts generally should lead the authorities to reconsider their decision to impose the death penalty."

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly has voted numerous times to declare the death penalty inhumane, unjust and ineffective at deterring future crimes. The Assembly voted most recently in Oslo in 2010 to call on OSCE participating States still applying the death penalty to declare an immediate moratorium on executions.