MINSK, Belarus – A new report by a Paris-based human rights group and Belarusian activists says Belarus has resumed executions after the European Union lifted most of its sanctions against the former Soviet nation.
The report released Wednesday by FIDH and Viasna says its representatives attended a hearing earlier this month at the Belarusian Supreme Court, which upheld a death penalty verdict. The groups say executions in Belarus resumed in April after the EU lifted most of its sanctions imposed on Belarus and its authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko.
More than 400 people have been executed since 1991 in Belarus, which remains the only European country that has not banned capital punishment.