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Japan | Hakamada found religion, but then felt under attack by ‘the devil’

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Editor's note: This is the last in a four-part series on letters that Iwao Hakamada wrote while on death row. About a decade after cursing God, Iwao Hakamada was baptized Catholic at the Tokyo Detention House on Dec. 24, 1984. “Since I have been given the Christian name Paul, I am keenly feeling that I should be aware of the greatness of Paul.” (June 1985)

In Belarus, Fate of 2 Sentenced to Die Is Unknown

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Dmitry Konovalov and Vladislav Kovalyov
MOSCOW — Any moment now, in a basement or courtyard somewhere in Belarus, two young men are to be put to death. They were arrested, tried and convicted for carrying out a deadly bombing last year at a subway station in Minsk, the Belarussian capital.

But there are serious questions about the case, so much so that international rights organizations and Western governments have pleaded with the Belarus authorities to put off the execution. Even several victims of the bombing have spoken up in defense of the condemned.

This week, Belarus’s president, Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, refused to pardon the men, meaning the execution could be carried out at any time. In fact, since officials do not typically inform family members or the news media of executions, both could already be dead.

As in Soviet times, prisoners on death row in Belarus are not told the date of their execution. Families rarely learn of an execution until after it has been carried out and are not told where loved ones are buried.

According to standard practice, Mr. Konovalov and Mr. Kovalyov would probably be taken from their cells without warning and led to a secret location. There, they would be blindfolded, dropped to their knees and shot in the back of the head.        

Click here to read the full article

Source: The New York Times, March 17, 2012

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Death Penalty News: Belarusian President Refuses To Pardon ...
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Dmitry Konovalov and Vladislav Kovalyov were sentenced to be shot by firing squad for a bomb attack in the Minsk subway in April 2011 that killed 15 people and wounded around 200 others at the end of last month.
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Death Penalty News: Belarus death-row bomber Vladislav Kovalyov ...
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Dmitry Konovalov and Vladislav Kovalyov, both 25, were arrested three days after the April 11 explosion which took place on a packed platform at evening rush-hour. The two men, friends since childhood, were said by the .
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Death Penalty News: Belarus sentences two to death for Minsk ...
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Dmitry Konovalov and Vladislav Kovalyov, both 25, were arrested three days after the April 11 explosion which took place on a packed platform at evening rush-hour. The two men, friends since childhood, were said by the ...
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Death Penalty News: Belarus 'Outraged' At European Resolution On ...
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The Foreign Ministry said that the European in particular has called into doubt the case of Vladislav Kovalyov and Dmitry Konovalov, who were sentenced to death for bombing a subway station in Minsk in April 2011.
http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.com/
Location: Belarus
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