Lukashenko pardons German citizen facing death penalty in Belarus

MINSK. July 30 (Interfax) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has pardoned the German citizen sentenced to death in Belarus, First Man's Pool Telegram channel close to the Belarusian presidential press service said on Tuesday.

"Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has made a decision to pardon German citizen Rico Krieger," the Telegram channel said.

The decision was made "taking into account all the circumstances," it said.

Lukashenko said earlier on Tuesday that Krieger had applied for pardon. It was reported that in this light, the Belarusian president invited the people involved in the process to hear the details and their opinions and consult with them.

Belarusian media outlets said earlier that Krieger had refrained from appealing his sentence, and it has come into effect.

It emerged on July 20 that a German citizen was sentenced to death in Belarus. It was reported that Krieger, who had entered Belarus on a tourist visa in October 2023, conducted reconnaissance and photographed military hardware, the territory of a military unit, railway tracks and the loading and unloading platform near the Ozerishche railway station outside Minsk on the instructions of the Ukrainian Security Service. He shared information he obtained with a representative of the Ukrainian intelligence service.

The Ukrainian Security Service representative sent Krieger coordinates and a photograph of a cache containing an improvised explosive device and instructions to install it on the railway tracks. He installed the improvised explosive device containing at least three kilograms of explosives on the railway tracks of the station. Krieger was planning to fly to Baku after the explosion, but was detained by Belarusian security services.