PACE Deputy: Decision To Hold European Games In Belarus Is Wrong

European politicians have condemned the execution of the death penalty, carried out in Belarus on the eve of the European Games.

Daniel Holtgen, representative of the Council of Europe, has responded to this event on Twitter, euroradio.fm reports.

"We condemn another execution in Belarus, reported by human rights activists. Death is not justice. We again call on the authorities to impose a moratorium on the use of the death penalty as a first step towards its abolition.

Commenting on this statement, the head of a group of socialists in the PACE, Frank Schwabe, wrote: "This shows that the decision to hold the European Games in Belarus was initially wrong. The whole event is a farce."

As reported by Charter97.org, today it became known that Aliaksandr Zhilnikov, convicted of double murder, was executed. The fate of the second defendant in the case, Viachaslau Sukharko, is unknown, but usually the defendants in one case are shot together in Belarus, human rights activists say.