Belarus' authoritarian president pardons German man sentenced to death on terrorism charges

TALLINN, Estonia — Belarus' authoritarian leader on Tuesday granted a pardon to a German citizen who had been sentenced to death on terrorism charges.

It wasn't immediately clear whether President Alexander Lukashenko's decision means that the capital punishment will be replaced with life in prison for Rico Krieger, as it's usually done in Belarus in such cases, or whether he will be released. A Telegram channel that reports Lukashenko's decisions didn't offer specifics.

The German Foreign Ministry confirmed that the man had been pardoned and said that “this news is a relief.” It did not elaborate.

Earlier on Tuesday, Lukashenko called a meeting to discuss the appeal from Krieger, who was convicted and sentenced to capital punishment in June. Krieger's lawyer Vladimir Gorbach, who took part in the meeting, told the Belarusian state TV that Lukashenko said he would consider Krieger's request for pardon and announce his decision later.

Krieger has been in custody since his arrest in October 2023. Belarusian state media reported that he has been accused of photographing some of the country's military facilities and of staging an explosion at a railway station on orders from Ukrainian special services.

Belarus is the only country in Europe to carry out capital punishment.

Human rights activists noted that the accusations against Krieger came amid relentless political repressions in Belarus. More than 35,000 people have been arrested and thousands were beaten in police custody in a brutal crackdown on protests ignited by Lukashenko’s re-election in an August 2020 presidential vote that the opposition saw as a sham.

Pavel Sapelka of Belarus’ Viasna human rights group said that Krieger could have fallen victim to a provocation by Belarus’ top security agency that still goes under its Soviet name KGB, noting that some Belarusians have been convicted and sentenced for their remarks made on messaging chats that were created by KGB officers posing as Ukrainians.

Krieger's sentencing has raised speculation that Belarusian authorities could have acted in sync with Russian spy agencies eager to prepare a possible swap involving Vadim Krasikov, a Russian serving a life sentence in Germany for the 2019 killing in Berlin of a Georgian citizen of Chechen descent.

Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to hint at an exchange involving Krasikov when he was asked about the possibility of releasing Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. Earlier this month, Gershkovich was convicted and sentenced to 16 years in maximum security prison on espionage charges that he, his employer and the U.S. government have dismissed as fabricated.

Belarus' Foreign Ministry has said it was in touch with German officials about Krieger's fate and has “proposed specific solutions for the existing options for the development of the situation.”

Germany’s Foreign Ministry has said that the German government is concerned about the case and has been providing the man with consular support. It hasn’t given further details.

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Associated Press writer Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed.