Belarus executes 3rd inmate in a year, rights group says

MINSK, Belarus – A human rights group says that Belarus, the only European country that hasn’t abolished capital punishment, has executed a third person in a year.

Viasna said in a statement on Wednesday that a 31-year-old man, who was convicted in February of murdering three people, has been executed. Another person was reported to have been executed earlier this month.

More than 400 people have been executed since 1991 in Belarus, which remains the only European country that hasn’t banned capital punishment.

Relatives aren’t informed about the place or time of the execution and aren’t allowed to receive the body for burial.

Rights groups said executions in Belarus resumed in April after the EU lifted most of its sanctions imposed on Belarus and its authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko.