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Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

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Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.

URGENT ACTION for Ivan Kulesh, sentenced to death in Belarus

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Ivan Kulesh
Ivan Kulesh
A 28-year-old man, Ivan Kulesh, was sentenced to death in Belarus on 20 November. He is at least the second person to receive the death sentence in 2015.

On 20 November the Hrodna Regional Court, in western Belarus, sentenced Ivan Kulesh to death for “committing murder with particular cruelty”, theft and robbery under articles 139, 205, 207 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus. 

Ivan Kulesh was found guilty of murdering three female sales assistants, two in September 2013 and one in November 2014, and of stealing goods and money from the shops where these women worked. 

He was also found guilty of the attempted murder of the son of a saleswoman, who caught him in the shop in November 2014. Ivan Kulesh had been under the influence of alcohol when committing these crimes.

According to the forensic medical examination Ivan Kulesh was diagnosed with an antisocial personality disorder, but was found “sane” (“vmenyaemyi”). Ivan Kulesh was raised in an orphanage
and has a two-year old daughter.

Ivan Kulesh was detained in November 2014 and has been held in the Hrodna regional pre-trial detention facility. He will now be transferred to a pre-trial detention facility in Minsk, where executions take place. He has until 30 November to appeal the decision.

His lawyer asked the court to sentence Ivan Kulesh to 25 years' imprisonment, taking into account that Ivan Kulesh signed a confession and cooperated with the investigation. Ivan Kulesh previously was convicted for theft, robbery and providing misleading information to the investigation.

Belarus is the last country in Europe and Central Asia still applying the death penalty.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception. It violates the right to life, as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

On 18 March 2015, Siarhei Ivanou was sentenced to death by the Homel Regional Court for the murder of a 19-year-old woman in August 2013.

Name: Ivan Kulesh
Gender m/f: M
UA: 266/15 Index: EUR 49/2926/2015 Issue Date: 24 November 2015

Please let us know if you took action so that we can track our impact!

Send a short email to uan@aiusa.org with “UA 266/15” in the subject line, and include in the body of the email the number of letters and/or emails you sent,

Thank you for taking action! Please check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Office if taking action after the appeals date. If you receive a response from a government official, please forward it to us at

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Please write immediately in Belarusian, Russian, English or your own language:
* Urging President Lukashenka to halt any planned executions and immediately commute the death
sentence handed down to Ivan Kulesh and all others sentenced to death in Belarus;
* Calling on him to establish an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty with a view
to abolishing it;
* Stress that whilst we are not seeking to downplay the seriousness of the crime of which Ivan
Kulesh has been convicted, research shows that death penalty does not deter crime whilst it is
also the ultimate denial of human rights.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 5 JANUARY 2016 TO:

President
Alyaksandr Lukashenka
Vul. Karla Marksa 38
220016
Minsk, Belarus
Fax: +375 17 226 06 10
+375 17 222 38 72
Salutation: Dear President Lukashenka

And copies to:
Prosecutor General Alyaksandr Kaniuk
Vul. Internatsianalnaya 22 
220050 Minsk, Belarus 
Fax: +375 17 226 42 52 (Say "fax" clearly if voice answers) 

Also send copies to:
Charge d'Affaires Mr. Pavel Shidlovsky, Embassy of Belarus
1619 New Hampshire Ave NW, Washington DC 20009
Fax: 1 202 986 1805 I Phone: 1 202 986 1606 I Email: usa@mfa.gov.by

Please share widely with your networks: http://bit.ly/1T0Plii

We encourage you to share Urgent Actions with your friends and colleagues! When you share with your networks, instead of forwarding the original email, please use the "Forward this email to a friend" link found at the very bottom of this email. Thank you for your activism!

UA Network Office AIUSA │600 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington DC 20003
T. 202.509.8193 │ F. 202.509.8193 │E. uan@aiusa.org │amnestyusa.org/urgent


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Location: Belarus
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